They asked participants to perform a reasoning task while simultaneously reciting outloud a list of six digits. If didgit span really is a measure of maximum STM capacity, participants would be expected to show in paired performance on the reasoning task because their STM would be ocupied retaining the 6 digits. However, they found that participants made very few errors on either the reasoning or digit span task, although the speed of veryfying the sentences was slightly slower than when the task was done alone. Baddeley and Hitch concluded that the STM must have more than 1 component and must be involved in processes other than simple storage; eg, reasoning, undestanding and learning. The working memory model consists of four parts: episodic buffer, phonological loop, central executive and visio spatial sketchpad; The episodic buffer is a fairly recent addition to the working memory model.
KF suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident which damaged his short-term memory. The damage was mainly for verbal information and his memory for visual information was unaffected. This shows that there are separate STM components for visual information (VSS) and verbal information (phonological loop). Another strength is that The working memory model explains a lot more than the
The working memory model was proposed by Baddeley & Hitch (1974) as an alternative to the multi-store model of memory. It has been developed to directly challenge the concept of a single unitary store for short-term memories. The working memory model is based upon the findings of the dual-task study and suggests that there are four separate components to our working memory (STM). The most important component is the central executive; it is involved in problem solving/decision-making. It also controls attention and plays a major role in planning and synthesizing information, not only from the subsidiary systems but also from LTM.
The working memory model was proposed by Baddeley and Hitch in 1974 to replace the multi-store model as it was too simplistic and did not explain how memories are transferred into the long term memory without repetition. The working memory model, in addition to temporarily storing and repeating information, focuses on short term memory and proposes a multi-component as opposed to a unitary system. The term 'working memory' refers to the part of the memory that is active or working, such as collecting data to be stored. The working memory model is made of four areas; the central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad, and the episodic buffer. The central executive controls attention, and is involved in planning and synthesizing information from the other two 'slave systems'.
He/she showed that though their short term memory was damaged or quite poor when it came to preforming verbal tasks, they were still able to perform visual tasks, indicating separate stores for visual and verbal task as suggested by the working memory model. Brain scans can also show physiological support indicating that separate stores of memory are used for different types of tasks as different parts of the brain are used for verbal and visual data based information, as suggested by the working memory model. Another positive remark about the working memory model is that it is more plausible and realistic compared to the multi-store model as it suggests that the stm holds our information in ties with manipulation due to problems that maybe encountered unlike the multi-store model that claims the stm is a static store with its fixed duration and capacity rate that may be little affected. The working memory model gives more in-depth information about the short term memory store in contrast to the multi-store model. On the other hand, the working memory model has been hugely criticised for not being a comprehensive model of memory as it only concerns itself with the short term
Alyce Archer 12D2 Outline and evaluate the multi store model of memory (12) Atkinson and Shiffrins (1968) multi store model of memory is a diagram explaining how the information flows in a linear process from one storage unit to another in a structural process. The model is made up of three unitary stores: Sensory memory, which takes in the enviromental stimuli (touch, smell, sound, sight and taste). This information can decay in as little as 2 seconds if it is not attended to. However if you do pay attention to it it will flow through to the Short term memory, where 5-9 items can be stored at one time, the duration of this is 18 seconds then it will decay or be displaced by new infromation, unless rehearsal takes place. There are two types of rehearsal: Maintance rehearsal and Elaborate Rehearsal.
However, the psychologists were only studying one kind of memory – syllables and words. Although, usually our mind memories more complex concepts, also the psychologist weren’t accurately testing duration as while counting backwards it is possible the syllables were displaced in the short term memory. Miller’s study was of the capacity of short term memory. He wrote and article called ‘the magic number plus or minus two’. In this he analysed research across many studies and concluded that immediate memory span is 7 therefore people can remember on average 7 musical notes/ words/ letters etc.
Each store encodes information in different ways, with the short-term store visually and acoustically encoding information, and the long-term store using semantic processing (giving information meaning). The multi-store model does not take into account people with brain damage or amnesia. For example, a man called KF was studied, who had brain damage. When he was asked to repeat after the researcher, he was unable to do it, (acoustic) but when he was asked to say what he could see in the picture, he was able to do it (visual). This suggests that the short-term store does not use acoustic processing, but visual.
The cognitive interview has two basic principles, one is that there are several memory retrieval paths to each memory, and the other is that, the use of retrieval cues enables access to various features of the memory. It was decided by Fisher in 1987 that frequently bombarding closed-ended questions that were brief and continuously interrupting the witness, doesn’t allow them to freely recall the situation, which is why the cognitive interview is now frequently used instead. There are four techniques which are considered when carrying out a cognitive interview. The first is context reinstatement, mentally revisiting the scene, recalling every last detail the witness can of the scenario. The second is to report absolutely everything, every last minute detail possible, no matter how trivial it may seem, without interruptions.
Important information and extensive rehearsal will transfer information into long term memory ( LTM ) which has unlimited capacity and has a limitless duration. LTM encodes semantically which means that the information is given a meaning. Information can be retrieved from LTM to be used in STM when needed and can be forgotten through decay or displacement. A strength of this model is that it is based on real people rather than experiments, it shows ecological validity and can be applied to everyday life. For example, H.M. had brain surgery to cure severe epilepsy but this resulted in him being unable to transfer information from STM to LTM so that he could not form long term memories, supporting the concept that there are separate stores.