multi store model of memory
“To what extent does the multi-store model offer a reasonable account of human memory?” (12 Marks)
The most influential multi-store model (or MSM) was proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968. They found out that memory is divided into a series of stages. At each stage, the information is passed from one to another and is constraints in terms of capacity, duration and encoding. The first part of the MSM is the sensory memory. According to Baddeley, the sensory memory holds information for a fraction of a second after the physical stimulus is no longer available. This is also supported by Sperling’s study where he used a chart containing three rows of letter which he displayed for a very brief exposure (50 milliseconds) to his participants. He found out that the participants can only recall about 9 out of possible 12. The reason why this was the case is that the whole array fades out during the time it takes to report the next item in the row. This study therefore supports the idea that MSM is divided into three parts: sensory memory, STM and LTM. However, the drawback of this study is that it was done in a laboratory experiment in which this is not the case in real-life situation; this therefore weakens the validity of the study. The STM, which holds more information than sensory memory, is the next stage of the process. The brain actively selects certain items from the sensory memory for transmission to STM. Only a tiny fraction of the items is passed on – the rest are lost. On the other hand, LTM, the last part of the process, has an unlimited capacity and duration whereas STM has a limited capacity (approximately 7 plus or minus 2) and duration (approximately less than 20 seconds). Distinction between the STM and LTM was supported by Glanzen and Cunitz’s study. In this study, the participants were grouped into two: the first group were instructed to immediately recall the words given whereas the second group had to count backwards in threes before
The most influential multi-store model (or MSM) was proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968. They found out that memory is divided into a series of stages. At each stage, the information is passed from one to another and is constraints in terms of capacity, duration and encoding. The first part of the MSM is the sensory memory. According to Baddeley, the sensory memory holds information for a fraction of a second after the physical stimulus is no longer available. This is also supported by Sperling’s study where he used a chart containing three rows of letter which he displayed for a very brief exposure (50 milliseconds) to his participants. He found out that the participants can only recall about 9 out of possible 12. The reason why this was the case is that the whole array fades out during the time it takes to report the next item in the row. This study therefore supports the idea that MSM is divided into three parts: sensory memory, STM and LTM. However, the drawback of this study is that it was done in a laboratory experiment in which this is not the case in real-life situation; this therefore weakens the validity of the study. The STM, which holds more information than sensory memory, is the next stage of the process. The brain actively selects certain items from the sensory memory for transmission to STM. Only a tiny fraction of the items is passed on – the rest are lost. On the other hand, LTM, the last part of the process, has an unlimited capacity and duration whereas STM has a limited capacity (approximately 7 plus or minus 2) and duration (approximately less than 20 seconds). Distinction between the STM and LTM was supported by Glanzen and Cunitz’s study. In this study, the participants were grouped into two: the first group were instructed to immediately recall the words given whereas the second group had to count backwards in threes before