Describe_and_Evaluate_the_Multi-Store_Memory_Model

Describe and evaluate the multi-store memory model (12 marks) This essay will describe the various aspects of the multi-memory store model and then evaluate its pros and cons. Atkinson and Shiffrin first promoted the idea of a multi-store memory model in 1968. Their model was the first and most influential model to explain how memory works. At the time, there was a major technological revolution and the first computers were invented. They drew their inspiration from this technological advancement. They described the memory as a flow of systematic information that is processed in the brain. The model has various elements to: capacity, duration and encoding. Atkinson and Shiffrin explained that the brain processes information once a stimulus is activated and then so it enters the sensory memory. The section of the model holds information for a fraction of a second once the stimulus is no longer available. The sensory memory is split into three elements; the first being the iconic store for visual input, the second echoic for auditory input and third haptic for tactile input. A key aspect of the multi-store memory is the difference between the short-term memory (STM) and the long-term memory (LTM). Both of which be distinguished in terms of duration, capacity, coding and forgetting. A basic distinction would be that STM is limited in terms of capacity – seven, add or subtract two. The duration in STM is very limited and unlimited in LTM. Evidence supporting the idea of STM and LTM comes from various researchers but a famous study conducted by Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) identifies a clear distinction between the two types of memory. They gave participants a list of words and presented them one at a time and tested them through free recall. They had two conditions in which the experiment was carried out. The first being that participants were asked to recall the words immediately after they had been presented. And the second being that they were given a distractor task and were asked to recall the words after. They presented their results on a graph and a serial position curve defined the results of the first condition. However, in condition two they saw that the distractor task had affected the recency effect and so the last few words in the task were no longer remembered so well. In terms of capacity, the two types of memory are very different. It is widely agreed by researchers that LTM has an unlimited capacity and can remember things from many years ago. Whereas, with STM Atkinson and Shiffrin believed that it had a limited capacity because it is difficult to remember numerous items instantly. George Miller proposed that in free recall our memory could handle seven plus or minus two items. He believed that our brain memorizes items in terms of chunks, not individual letters. There are numerous factors that affect our STM capacity. These consist of things such as: influence of LTM, reading aloud and pronunciation time. Peterson and Peterson (1959) investigated the duration of STM without rehearsal. They presented their participants with consonant trigrams and gave them a distractor task. Participants were then asked to stop counting and repeat the trigram. This was repeated numerous times and they found that about 80 percent were able to recall after a three second interval and as the time length of the distractor task increased they became worse at recalling the trigram. They concluded to say that information disappears from STM without rehearsal. There are various factors affecting the STM and these consist of things such as: rehearsal, intention to recall and amount of information to be recalled. LTM is believed to have an unlimited capacity. However, Bahrick et al. (1975) did experiments on 392 graduates of a school based on their former classmates. They used different memory tests to see whether they can remember their previous classmates. Participants performed very well up until the age of 34, then they progressively got worse and after 47 years they found it difficult. And so age is a factor that affects LTM. Though, the main factors considered to affect LTM are: depth of learning, pattern of learning and nature of material to be learned. Encoding is a key in memory. When information arrives at the sensory memory it is in its original form, i.e sound or visual. Researchers were interested to see which type of memory is best recorded. There are three types of encoding used in memory; acoustic, visual and semantic. Research has shown that the main way STM uses encoding is through sound – acoustic. An experiment done by Conrad (1964) explores that idea. He displayed a random set of consonants on a screen for a short period of time. There were two conditions, the first being that the consonants were acoustically very similar, the second being that they were acoustically dissimilar. Conrad found that letters that were the same were harder to recall, compared to those that were different. As well as that, Conrad explained that we must convert visual stimuli into acoustic when using the STM. In comparison to STM, our LTM uses semantic coding. An experiment performed by Baddeley (1966) attempted to explain this. Baddeley presented four groups of words. The first two were acoustically similar and dissimilar. The second two were semantically similar and dissimilar. He asked participants to write down the words that were displayed down in its original sequence. He tested LTM by extending the length of the words from five words to 10. And prevented participants from rehearsing the words by interrupting them. He found that words with similar meaning were poorly recalled and concluded that LTM used semantic coding. The mutli-store memory model has made an important contribution to memory research. It was the first to present the idea of information-processing and has enabled psychologists to test new models and experiment with the different elements of the multi-store memory model. Despite that, the idea of STM and LTM is highly accepted amongst the psychology community and so the model is considered of great value to researchers. However, despite setting a foundation of a memory model, it is also very flawed. One major problem with it is that it is over-simplified. Is it possible that memory in the brain is as simple as a flow chart. There are many external factors that affect memory that are yet to be identified. And so the model fails to reflect the complexity of human memory. For example, it takes no account of the different types of things we have to remember. The role of rehearsal is key in remembering information and transferring it from the STM to the LTM. However, there is tons of information to suggest that repetition is the least effective way of passing on information from the STM to the LTM. Another flaw in the model is that most of the evidence used to support it comes from experiments based in an artificial setting. And so they lack external validity. To conclude, I believe that the multi-store memory model was of great significance to our knowledge of memory. I think it’s a good model and explains quite a bit in terms of how our memory works. Despite the model being flawed and its evidence lacking external validity, a lot of its principles can be recognized and applied to every day life.