‘Outline and Evaluate the Multi-Store Model of Memory’ The multi-store model (MSM) is an information processing system, which holds features such as sensory memory, short-term memory and long term memory. This model of memory had been proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968 and they envisaged memory as a flow of information through an information-processing system. The MSM is divided into a series of stages as the information asses from one story to another in a fixed sequence. At each stage there are three constraints in terms of capacity, duration and encoding. Atkinson and Shiffrin said that the information enters from the environment and it registers at the sensory memory before either decaying of passing on to short-term memory.
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.
Outline and evaluate the multi-store model of memory (12 marks) Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) developed the multi-store model of memory to describe how the whole memory is structured. Incoming information enters a sensory memory for a brief period of time. A tiny fraction of it is then transmitted to the short term memory where it can be held and influenced. A little of that information is then transferred to the long term memory for more permanent storage. Sensory memory is the memory stores of all the info that your senses take in, it is held long enough for us to pay attention to it, if wanted, and then initially process it before it transfers to the short term memory.
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.
Rehearsal maintains information in the STM however it is still vulnerable to being forgotten due to limited duration (decay) or being displaced by new incoming information due to limited capacity (displacement). If rehearsed and processed deep enough (e.g. through elaborative or maintenance rehearsal) the information then passes to the long-term memory store which has unlimited capacity and unlimited duration dependent on the level of processing of the information received. While the LTM encoding is mainly semantic the STM encoding is auditory with a capacity of 7 +/- 2 items and duration of up to 18 seconds. Research evidence by Glanzer et al demonstrated support for the STM and LTM being different stores.
It is divided into the phonological store and the articulatory process. The phonological store called the ‘inner ear’ deals with auditory information and preserves the order of the information. It has duration of about two seconds unless rehearsal by the articulatory process occurs. However, on the other hand the articulatory process is like the ‘inner voice’. It explains evidence for acoustic coding in short term memory.
Describe and Evaluate the MSM. The MSM uses the system of encoding, storage and retrieval meaning that the information is transferred into the brain and therefore stored as echoic, hepatic or semantic until it is needed and therefore retrieved. The MSM is made up of the sensory memory which encodes by touch store such as hepatic encoding, echoic and iconic encoding. The capacity of the sensory memory is very limited and the duration in 2-5seconds on average. The short term memory is mostly encoded by sound and images are transferred for echoic information.
Outline and evaluate the working memory model (12) Baddely and Hitch considered that the STM store in the Multi-store Model was too bland and simplified; they believed that STM was not a passive store, but several active processes that manipulate information. Baddely and Hitch also suggested that if a task involved different parts of the wrking memory system then 2 tasks could be undertaken simultaneously; eg, processing vision and sound. There is evidence to show that there is more than one component in STM and this has been provided by Baddeley and Hitch. They divised the dual task technique. They asked participants to perform a reasoning task while simultaneously reciting outloud a list of six digits.
“Describe and evaluate research into the multi-store model of memory.” (4+8) The multi-store model of memory is the first invented explanation of how memory works in a human. This was proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968. It has said that information in the model of a human memory involves a sequence where information enters a sensory memory for a short period, a little of that information is then passed onto short term memory where it can be held for a little longer period, this information can be processed into the long term memory by rehearsal or meaning for a more permanent storage. Information In the Sensory memory can be received through iconic, echoic or haptic stores. It lasts for around a second and then information is decayed or passed onto the STM.
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