The Sensory Memory Store has a limited abilility to store information, any information received will either decay or by taking notice of the information can then continue forward to the (STM). In 1960 Sperling’s investigation into the capacity of the iconic memory suggests that the (SMS) are large but decay very rapidly. SHORT TERM MEMORY STORE The (STMS) holds the information which has been transferred over from the sensory store. The storage time can range between 20-30 seconds if not ‘rehearsed’. It can hold a limited amount of items; Miller 1956 suggested 7 items plus or minus 2 in his study known as Millers magic number seven.
They found that participants remembered about 90% when there was only a second interval; but this dropped to 2% when an 18 second interval was emplaced. Thus concluding verbal repetition prevents rehearsal of items being stored in STM decay quickly, so items last approximately 10 seconds in STM without rehearsal. One research conducted by Bahrick et al in America demonstrated the considerable duration of LTM by asking people of various ages to put names to faces from their high school year book. 48 years on people were about 70% accurate. There was a free recall test, photo recognition test and name recognition test.
The multi-store memory model was proposed by Atkinson & Shiffrin in 1968. It suggests that memory is a flow of information through a system. There are three distinct stages of the system; sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory, information passes through each stage of the system in a linear fashion. Information is registered through the sensory system where they can be passed into the short term memory. The short term memory stores approximately 7 +/-2 items in an acoustic code for approximately 15-30 seconds.
MSM Strengths: Primacy/Recency Primacy/Recency is an experiment where participants are given a list of 20 words in succession and the experiment is interested in where the most words are remembered. Primacy/recency proves MSM because the beginning of the list is first transferred to the LTM, the middle is forgotten due to the fact that it is being transferred from the STM to the LTM and the end of the list is stored in the STM so you are only able to write some of the words down. The whole of the experiment proves that there is a long term and a short term memory which MSM states exist. Clive Wearing is a man that suffers from the world’s worst case of amnesia. His memory is 30 seconds long and he doesn’t have the capacity to make new memories.
In addition information in the short term memory store is encoded acoustically; this theory is supported by Conrad’s 1964 case study where an experiment was conducted that confirmed Atkinson and Shiffrin’s theory that the STM encodes information acoustically. Their findings showed after rehearsal the info is transferred from the STM to Long term memory store if not rehearsed information is lost through decay. When in the LTM, the material can last for up to a lifetime when rehearsed or is of semantic value. LTM encodes information that is semantic. There are many strong points to consider in terms of the multi store model of memory.
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) came up with the theory of the “Serial Positioning experiment”. They gave participants in their experiment three lists of words to remember. It resulted in participants remembering the first list of words (known as Primacy effect), and the last list of words (known as Recency effect), completely forgetting the middle list. This experiment supports the idea of the Multi Store Model as it states that the LTM and the STM are unitary stores (they cannot subdivide into different components). Glanzer and Cunitz suggested that the first list of words
Entailing of information flowing in a fixed sequence from one to the next. Atkinson and Shiffrin (1971) added to the model the process of transfer from the STM to the LTM store. Termed as rehearsal, they demonstrated that the STM could be expanded from its unaided duration of 15 and 30 seconds when aided by repetition and rehearsal (Gross 1996). One of the many studies that support the multi-store model is the recency effect study by Glanzer and Cunitz (1966); they concluded that the STM and LTM are separate stores from each other (Eysenck and Keane, 2002). The study tested the recall of candidates directly after exposure to a list of words and compared the results with the candidates given a delay and/or distraction between exposure and recall.
If attended to this information enters the short term memory. Information from the STM is transferred to the long-term memory only if that information is rehearsed. If rehearsal does not occur, then information is forgotten, lost from short term memory through the processes of displacement or decay. Sensory Memory • Duration: ¼ to ½ second • Capacity: all sensory experience (v. larger capacity) • Encoding: sense specific (e.g. different stores for each sense) Short Term Memory • Duration: 0-18 seconds • Capacity: 7 +/- 2 items • Encoding: mainly auditory Long Term Memory • Duration: Unlimited • Capacity: Unlimited • Encoding: Mainly Semantic (but can be visual and auditory) Evaluation of the Multi-Store Model Strengths Many memory studies provide evidence to support the distinction between STM and LTM (in terms of encoding, duration and capacity).
To what extent does the Multi Store Model offer a reasonable account of human memory? The Multi Store Model was designed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968. The model proposes there are three different memory stores: sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory. Information from the environment is constantly received by the sensory memory store; most of it being irrelevant information. However if the information receives attention, it will pass on to short term memory.
Secondly storage process: involves entering and maintaining information in memory for a period of time and last of all retrieval process: involves recovering stored information from memory so it can be used. There are three main types of models of memory that demonstrate how our memory processes work including the: Multistore Model (MSM), Working Memory Model (WM) and the Levels of Processing Model (LOP). As such, this essay response will be focussed on the evaluation of MSM & LOP memory models supported the arguments with relevant studies. The multi-store model of memory was proposed by Atkinsn and Shiffrin (1968). The multistore model consists of three memory stores: sensory memory (SM), short term memory (STM) and long term memory (LTM) that is used for different tasks.