Outline and evaluate the multi store model of memory [16 MARKS]
In 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin devised what they believed was a model of how our memory worked.
Firstly, they claimed came the sensory output. This involved things from the environment via our
sense organs such as our eyes, ears and skin. This then enters the sensory register which stores
information for milliseconds. This part of the model contains many different stores, one for each
sense organ. The main two being iconic and echoic memory stores. Very little of what goes into the
sensory register will be passed further into the memory system, but it will only if you pay attention
to it. The rest of the information would be discarded. The information we pay attention to then
travels to our STM in which it is stayed through the rehearsal loop. Through consolidation and
maintenance rehearsal, the information would then travel to the LTM store where it can be
retrieved.
STM LTM
Coding Acoustic (words that sound similar) Semantic ( words that have similar
: Baddeley 1996. meaning) : Baddeley 1966
Capacity 7 ± 2 chunks of Potentially unlimited : Stephen Wilshire
information : Jacobs 1887
Duration Up to 18 seconds : Peterson and Up to a lifetime : Bahrick et al (1975)
Peterson (1959)
One strength of the MSM is that it is supported by research showing that STM and LTM are different
stores. Baddeley in 1966, found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when using our
STM but mix up words that have similar meanings when we use our LTM. This suggests that coding
in STM is acoustic and coding in LTM is semantic which supports the MSM’s view of the two stores
being separate and independent.
There is also further evidence of LTM and STM being separate stores through the use of brain
scanning techniques. In 1997, Beardsley found that the prefrontal cortex is only active in STM but
not in LTM. Furthermore, squire et al, 1992, found that the hippocampus is only active when LTM is
engaged. The scientific, empirical evidence is objective and as a result is a strength of the model.
Due to this the separate stores cannot be open to interpretation.
However, one limitation of the MSM is that there is evidence to suggest that there are different
types of STM stores. KF was a patient who had undergone surgery to remove his epilepsy, yet the
surgery as unsuccessful and his hippocampus was removed which impacted his memory. In 1970,
Shallice and Warrington studied KF and found that when they read digits to him, his STM recall was
very poor. However, when KF read the digits to himself his STM recall was much better. The MSM
claims there is only one type of STM but KF suggests that there is one STM for auditory information
and another for visual information. This implies that there are at least 2 different STM stores yet the
MSM claims STM is a store on its own.
Furthermore, the Working Memory Model by Baddely and Hitch suggests that STM is made up of a
visuo-spatial sketchpad and a phonological loop. This supports the information gained by KF. This is
,that STM is not just one store on its own but has different components which also goes against the
claims about STM in the MSM.
A strength of the MSM is that the research has high external validity and real life meaningful
memories. For example, Bahrick et al tested the duration of LTM using year books. He found that
after 15 years of graduation 90% got a photo recognition test accurate and 60% got a free recall test
accurate. After 48 years of graduating, 70% got a photo recognition test accurate and 30% got a free
recall test accurate. The tests were trying to see how many people graduates could remember from
their high school classes. However, the downside of real life research is that confounding variables
are not controlled. For example, the participants in his experiment may have looked at their
yearbooks and rehearsed their memory over the years.
Despite this, the MSM claims that there is only one type of rehearsal. In 1975, Craik and Tuvling
found that maintenance rehearsal is not the only type. The MSM claims the more we hearse
information the more we maintain it however, Craik et al found that elaborative rehearsal is far
more effective way of remembering information and transferring it to our LTM. This is when we give
information meaning. However, the MSM cannot explain this research and therefore is too simplistic
and as a result a reductionist.
, Outline and evaluate the different types of long term memory [16 MARKS]
One type of LTM is episodic. This is a store of personal events as if they are episodes. They include
the context of the event for example: What you did on your 12 th birthday. The people, place and
objects are all woven into one memory. We make a conscious effort when recalling these memories.
Another type is semantic memory. This is a store of our knowledge of the world along with facts. It
does not include when we learned the memory or how. One example of semantic memory is the
taste of an orange. Semantic memory is less personal in comparison to episodic memory yet we still
make a conscious effort in recalling them.
The final type of LTM is procedural memory. This is a store of our memory of skills and knowledge of
how to do things. For example how to walk or ride a bike. The skills tend to be hard to explain. This is
the only type of LTM which is unconsciously recalled, as the other two we are aware of recalling.
One strength is that there is case study evidence to support different types of LTM. For example:
Clieve Wearing had lost his episodic memory yet still had his semantic and procedural. This is shown
though him believing he is meeting his wife for the first time yet he knows that he loves her. This
conveys how he still has his semantic memory yet not his episodic. Furthermore, Clieve Wearing
knows how to conduct a choir and play piano, but after mere minutes of doing so will refuse to
believe he just did. This further highlights his loss of episodic memory yet implies he still has his
procedural memory. This exemplifies that there are different types of LTM stores and that if one has
been damaged the others can be left unaffected.
However, there is a problem with the use of clinical evidence. Evidence about what happens when
memory is damaged is often based on clinical cases such as Clieve Wearing. There is a serious lack of
control of difference variables in these studies involving those with brain damage such as not being
able to control the precise location of the brain damage or personality variables. As a result it is
difficult to generalise from case studies to determine the exact nature of LTM.
It has also been argued that there are only two types of LTM stores: Declarative and Non-
declarative. Cohen and Squire believed that episodic and semantic are declarative memories as they
are being recalled consciously while procedural memory is non-declarative as it is being recalled
unconsciously. It is important to get distinctions between different types of memories as the way we
define LTM’s influences how memory studies are conducted.
However, brain scans have provided evidence that there are at least 3 types of LTMs. Tuvling had
asked participants to do various memory tasks while having their brain scanned with a PET scanner.
He found that while doing tasks involving our episodic and semantic memory, the prefrontal cortex
was being used. He also found that both types of memories were on different sides implying their
physical reality in the brain and how they are separate. As he was using a brains scan, the use of
machinery made his results objective and therefore not open to interpretation.
In 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin devised what they believed was a model of how our memory worked.
Firstly, they claimed came the sensory output. This involved things from the environment via our
sense organs such as our eyes, ears and skin. This then enters the sensory register which stores
information for milliseconds. This part of the model contains many different stores, one for each
sense organ. The main two being iconic and echoic memory stores. Very little of what goes into the
sensory register will be passed further into the memory system, but it will only if you pay attention
to it. The rest of the information would be discarded. The information we pay attention to then
travels to our STM in which it is stayed through the rehearsal loop. Through consolidation and
maintenance rehearsal, the information would then travel to the LTM store where it can be
retrieved.
STM LTM
Coding Acoustic (words that sound similar) Semantic ( words that have similar
: Baddeley 1996. meaning) : Baddeley 1966
Capacity 7 ± 2 chunks of Potentially unlimited : Stephen Wilshire
information : Jacobs 1887
Duration Up to 18 seconds : Peterson and Up to a lifetime : Bahrick et al (1975)
Peterson (1959)
One strength of the MSM is that it is supported by research showing that STM and LTM are different
stores. Baddeley in 1966, found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when using our
STM but mix up words that have similar meanings when we use our LTM. This suggests that coding
in STM is acoustic and coding in LTM is semantic which supports the MSM’s view of the two stores
being separate and independent.
There is also further evidence of LTM and STM being separate stores through the use of brain
scanning techniques. In 1997, Beardsley found that the prefrontal cortex is only active in STM but
not in LTM. Furthermore, squire et al, 1992, found that the hippocampus is only active when LTM is
engaged. The scientific, empirical evidence is objective and as a result is a strength of the model.
Due to this the separate stores cannot be open to interpretation.
However, one limitation of the MSM is that there is evidence to suggest that there are different
types of STM stores. KF was a patient who had undergone surgery to remove his epilepsy, yet the
surgery as unsuccessful and his hippocampus was removed which impacted his memory. In 1970,
Shallice and Warrington studied KF and found that when they read digits to him, his STM recall was
very poor. However, when KF read the digits to himself his STM recall was much better. The MSM
claims there is only one type of STM but KF suggests that there is one STM for auditory information
and another for visual information. This implies that there are at least 2 different STM stores yet the
MSM claims STM is a store on its own.
Furthermore, the Working Memory Model by Baddely and Hitch suggests that STM is made up of a
visuo-spatial sketchpad and a phonological loop. This supports the information gained by KF. This is
,that STM is not just one store on its own but has different components which also goes against the
claims about STM in the MSM.
A strength of the MSM is that the research has high external validity and real life meaningful
memories. For example, Bahrick et al tested the duration of LTM using year books. He found that
after 15 years of graduation 90% got a photo recognition test accurate and 60% got a free recall test
accurate. After 48 years of graduating, 70% got a photo recognition test accurate and 30% got a free
recall test accurate. The tests were trying to see how many people graduates could remember from
their high school classes. However, the downside of real life research is that confounding variables
are not controlled. For example, the participants in his experiment may have looked at their
yearbooks and rehearsed their memory over the years.
Despite this, the MSM claims that there is only one type of rehearsal. In 1975, Craik and Tuvling
found that maintenance rehearsal is not the only type. The MSM claims the more we hearse
information the more we maintain it however, Craik et al found that elaborative rehearsal is far
more effective way of remembering information and transferring it to our LTM. This is when we give
information meaning. However, the MSM cannot explain this research and therefore is too simplistic
and as a result a reductionist.
, Outline and evaluate the different types of long term memory [16 MARKS]
One type of LTM is episodic. This is a store of personal events as if they are episodes. They include
the context of the event for example: What you did on your 12 th birthday. The people, place and
objects are all woven into one memory. We make a conscious effort when recalling these memories.
Another type is semantic memory. This is a store of our knowledge of the world along with facts. It
does not include when we learned the memory or how. One example of semantic memory is the
taste of an orange. Semantic memory is less personal in comparison to episodic memory yet we still
make a conscious effort in recalling them.
The final type of LTM is procedural memory. This is a store of our memory of skills and knowledge of
how to do things. For example how to walk or ride a bike. The skills tend to be hard to explain. This is
the only type of LTM which is unconsciously recalled, as the other two we are aware of recalling.
One strength is that there is case study evidence to support different types of LTM. For example:
Clieve Wearing had lost his episodic memory yet still had his semantic and procedural. This is shown
though him believing he is meeting his wife for the first time yet he knows that he loves her. This
conveys how he still has his semantic memory yet not his episodic. Furthermore, Clieve Wearing
knows how to conduct a choir and play piano, but after mere minutes of doing so will refuse to
believe he just did. This further highlights his loss of episodic memory yet implies he still has his
procedural memory. This exemplifies that there are different types of LTM stores and that if one has
been damaged the others can be left unaffected.
However, there is a problem with the use of clinical evidence. Evidence about what happens when
memory is damaged is often based on clinical cases such as Clieve Wearing. There is a serious lack of
control of difference variables in these studies involving those with brain damage such as not being
able to control the precise location of the brain damage or personality variables. As a result it is
difficult to generalise from case studies to determine the exact nature of LTM.
It has also been argued that there are only two types of LTM stores: Declarative and Non-
declarative. Cohen and Squire believed that episodic and semantic are declarative memories as they
are being recalled consciously while procedural memory is non-declarative as it is being recalled
unconsciously. It is important to get distinctions between different types of memories as the way we
define LTM’s influences how memory studies are conducted.
However, brain scans have provided evidence that there are at least 3 types of LTMs. Tuvling had
asked participants to do various memory tasks while having their brain scanned with a PET scanner.
He found that while doing tasks involving our episodic and semantic memory, the prefrontal cortex
was being used. He also found that both types of memories were on different sides implying their
physical reality in the brain and how they are separate. As he was using a brains scan, the use of
machinery made his results objective and therefore not open to interpretation.
