Memory: the Multi-store Model

Memory: the Multi-store Model

1. process where information is retained

2. First ever cognitive model

3. 3 types of memory storage systems

   • Sensory Register
     • Info gathered by sense organs
       • only the info that had attention will go to STM
         • if actively processed and rehearsed goes to LTM
       • rest is lost
         • Trace decay
   • Short term memory
     • active memory system
     • temporarily stores info from SR
     • in pre-frontal lobe
   • Long term memory
   • Differs with coding, capacity and duration

4. SR

   • Coding: raw, unprocessed form
     • Echoic - audiotory
       • info kept 2-3 secs
     • Iconic - visual
       • info kept for a few milisecs
     • Haptic - touch
     • Gustatory - taste
     • Olfactory - smell
     • Different stores have different lengths of coding duration
   • Capacity
     • everyone has different capacities - hard to test
     • iconic can store 15-20
     • Sperling had a 4x3 grid, flashed letters for 0.05s
       • very large
   • Duration
     • limited duration
     • decreases with age

5. STM

   • Coding
     • visually - thinking of an image
     • Acoustically - repeatedly saying the thing
       • main form of coding
     • semantically - using knowledge of the thing
     • Influence of acoustic and semantic - baddeley and hitch
       • STM is mainly acoustic as participants got confused with similar sounding words
   • Capacity
     • limited amount
     • 5-9 items: 7+-2 (Miller's Magic)
     • Increased by chunking
       • GCSEICTPEREPSHE = GCSE/ICT/PE/RE/PSHE
     • Jacobs STM
       • presented long list of numbers/letter and had to recall in the right order
         • Numbers = 9
         • Letters = 7
           • Lacks mundane realism
     • Age and practice influence capacity
   • Duration
     • Max 30 seconds
       • extended through rehearsal
         • goes to LTM
     • Peterson : nonsense trigrams
       • "VJKSB"
       • prevented rehearsal by counting backwards
       • only remembered 5% after 18s
       • Lacks mundane realism

6. LTM

   • very long term, almost for a lifetime
   • passed through the SR to the STM to LTM
   • not passive
     • memories can be altered by new opinions or info
   • spread through different part of brain regions
   • Coding
     • mainly semantic but does have other forms too
       • based on meanings
     • the stronger the meaning, the more easy it is to retrieve
   • Capacity
     • unlimited
       • survival value
   • Duration
     • depends on person's lifespan
     • memories of faces are easier to remember
     • duration of olfactory is long lasting

7. Evaluation

   • Started the understanding of memory
   • Considerable evidence of the SR, STM, LTM
   • Serial position effect supports the seperate regions of MSM
     • Primary effect: remembering stuff at the beginning of a list better than the middle
     • Recency effect: remembering stuff at the end of the list better than the middle
   • Supported by amnesia cases, lose their LTM but not STM, vice versa
   • Over simplified - memory is complex
   • Too focused on structure not processes