Outline and Evaluate the Multi-Store Model of Memory
Outline and Evaluate the Multi – Store Model of Memory ( 12 marks )
Information from the environment enters sensory memory, encoded through one of the 5 senses depending on the type of information. If attention is paid to this information it will enter short term memory ( STM )which, according to Miller, has a capacity of 7+/- 2 bits of information. It can last up to 18 seconds, without rehearsal, according to Peterson and Peterson. Baddeley found that information in STM is encoded mainly acoustically, although Brandimonte showed that sometimes it is done visually. If maintenance rehearsal takes place it will remain in STM or be forgotten through decay or displacement. Elaborative rehearsal will then transfer information into long term memory ( LTM ) which has unlimited capacity and, according to Bahrick, can last a lifetime. Baddeley found that LTM encodes mostly semantically. Information can be retrieved from LTM to be used in STM when needed and can be forgotten through decay or displacement. ( 157 words )
A particular strength of this model is that it is supported by evidence from clinical amnesics, and as this is based on real people rather than experiments, it is more ecologically valid and therefore can be applied to everyday life. For example, H.M. underwent brain surgery to cure severe epilepsy but this resulted in the inability to transfer information from STM to LTM so that he could not form long term memories, supporting the concept that there are separate stores. ( 75 words )
Other evidence to support this model comes from medical technology such as MRI and PET scans which show different brain patterns when patients are performing tasks associated with STM and LTM, therefore showing there are separate stores in memory.( 39 words )
Empirical research also provides evidence of separate stores for example research on
Information from the environment enters sensory memory, encoded through one of the 5 senses depending on the type of information. If attention is paid to this information it will enter short term memory ( STM )which, according to Miller, has a capacity of 7+/- 2 bits of information. It can last up to 18 seconds, without rehearsal, according to Peterson and Peterson. Baddeley found that information in STM is encoded mainly acoustically, although Brandimonte showed that sometimes it is done visually. If maintenance rehearsal takes place it will remain in STM or be forgotten through decay or displacement. Elaborative rehearsal will then transfer information into long term memory ( LTM ) which has unlimited capacity and, according to Bahrick, can last a lifetime. Baddeley found that LTM encodes mostly semantically. Information can be retrieved from LTM to be used in STM when needed and can be forgotten through decay or displacement. ( 157 words )
A particular strength of this model is that it is supported by evidence from clinical amnesics, and as this is based on real people rather than experiments, it is more ecologically valid and therefore can be applied to everyday life. For example, H.M. underwent brain surgery to cure severe epilepsy but this resulted in the inability to transfer information from STM to LTM so that he could not form long term memories, supporting the concept that there are separate stores. ( 75 words )
Other evidence to support this model comes from medical technology such as MRI and PET scans which show different brain patterns when patients are performing tasks associated with STM and LTM, therefore showing there are separate stores in memory.( 39 words )
Empirical research also provides evidence of separate stores for example research on