Describe and evaluate the Working Memory Model of Memory (12 marks) The working memory model by Baddeley and Hitch in 1974 is an alternative to the multi- store model, which was limited in its description of the STM. It consists of three main components, the first one being the central executive, which has overall control. The central executive is directs attention to two slave systems, the phonological loop and the visual-spatial sketchpad. The central executive has limited capacity but is able to process information from all the sensory systems, e.g. vision, hearing, etc.
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.
Discuss the value of the Multi Store Model of memory (12 marks) The MSM of memory consists of four main components: the Attention System (Sensory Store), the Short Term Store (often known as the working memory), the Rehearsal Loop and the Long Term Store. The Attention System filters incoming information. If this information is paid attention to, it gets transferred into the Short Term Store. However, if the information is not acknowledged it is lost/decays. The Rehearsal Loop allows the rehearsal of information resulting in it being transferred into either the Long Term Store, or due to maintenance rehearsal, the information will be able to stay stored in the Short Term Store.
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.
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.
Describe and discuss the levels of processing model of memory. Explain how this model could be applied to the task of preparing for an examination (10 marks) The levels of processing model of memory suggests there are three different levels, each relating to a different depth of processing. The structural/shallow processing level says that we can understand something without paying much attention to it I.e was the word in capital letters? The phonetic level relates to a higher depth of processing where an individual has to judge whether a word relates to another I.e does this word rhyme with book? Lastly, an even deeper level of processing, known as the deep/semantic level, states that we check words for meaning.
Memory is to do with how we encode, store and retrieve information. The multi-store model of memory was suggested by Atkinson and Shiffrin who said that we have 3 different memory stores: sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory and formed a linear model to demonstrate the process. A key aspect of the model is that the memory stores have different characteristics which include capacity, duration and encoding. Capacity refers to how much information that can be stored, duration is how long the memory lasts and encoding is how the memory is taken in and stored to be recalled later. We have sensory memory stores where information from the outside world is taken in unconsciously so if it is not looked at consciously it can be lost via decay as the duration is very short (possibly up to 2 seconds).
Additionally he identified that different regions of the brain interact or work together to enable a process. Thus leading to his findings that loss of speech can arise from damage to the front half of the brain Schiller, 1979, cited in Toates, (2010). Geschwind (1972), cited in Toates, (2010), also found that brain regions interact to enable the performance and understanding of speech. His evidence came from an experiment that entailed a participant listening to a sentence and then repeating it. Geschwind concluded that brain interactions were necessary to carry out the instructions.
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.
As far as coding is concerned, there are also differences between short term and long term memory; short term is acoustic and long term is semantic. The multi-store model of memory is the first attempt into explaining the way that memory works and has led to further research into memory being undertaken but this explanation of memory is overly simplistic due to its one way system of memory. Lab research to support the multi-store memory was carried out by Peterson and Peterson; in their study, participants were presented with a trigram consisting of 3 consonants which they were asked to recall in the correct order after a delay of 3,6,9,12,15 or 18 seconds. Rehearsal of the trigram was prevented by counting backwards in 3s from a random 3 digit number. The findings of Peterson and Peterson’s research were that after 18 seconds, fewer than 10% of the trigrams were remembered by the participants.