“Multistore Model of Memory” notes on main aspects
Sunday, February 25th, 2007
Working memory and language: an overview
Alan Baddeley University of Bristol,2003
Alan Baddeley University of Bristol,2003
The most influential two-component modelwas that of Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) (the first theory to be widely accepted).
Two component models found unsatisfactory as conflicting studies proved and disproved the hypothesis.
See fig
Description of the multistore memory.
A temporary verbal–acoustic storage system, a parallel visual subsystem, the visuospatial, finally, behavior was assumed to be controlled by a limited capacity attention system, the central executive.
Flaws in the multi-store model-
The ability of brain damaged people to create new LTM though their STM is destroyed.
Also evidence from brain-damaged patients suggests that there are different types of both short-term and long-term memories that are stored in different places in the brain.
The fixed store aspect of the theory is questioned by the capacity to train and increase the capacity of STM. More recent theories seem to be suggesting that there is more of a flow in and out of LTM
The multi store model has been criticised for being over simple, and has not stood up to further scrutiny in the areas of coding, capacity, and trace duration.
The main critics
Craik F I M & Lockhart R S. Levels of processing: a framework for memory research. J.Verb. Learn. Verb. Behav. 11:671-84, 1972.
[University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada]
[University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada]
Alternative framework in which discrete stores were
replaced by a continuum of processing varying from shallow sensory analyses to
deeper, semantic analyses.
We postulated that memory was the record of the operations
carried out during perception and comprehension, and that deeper levels of
processing were associated with longerlasting memory traces.
The alternative
MEMCOG
1982, 2001 Janice M. Keenan
Levels of Processing
Experiment Manual, Department of Physcology University of Denver
1982, 2001 Janice M. Keenan
Levels of Processing
Experiment Manual, Department of Physcology University of Denver
Levels of processing framework
Perceptual processing is assumed to be a continuum of rapid analyses of the stimulus at a number of levels (or stages), rather than a series of transfers from one memory store to another as in the multistore model.
The evidence we have just reviewed concerning coding, capacity and trace duration can be taken not only as evidence against the discrete memory structures proposed by the multistore model, but also as evidence for a continuum of mental processing where the type of coding or type of
processing determines how much can be retained and for how long. This is in essence the basis of Craik and Lockhart’s levels of processing approach to memory.
The levels of processing framework enjoyed almost immediate acceptance among a wide
range of memory theorists, and multistore memory models were soon abandoned. But
even though multistore models are no longer utilized in memory research, it is important to realize that some of the concepts developed in these models continue to be used by memory theorists. For example, there is still general acceptance of the notion of sensory memories. Also, memory theorists continue to use the term short-term memory.
However, short-term memory is no longer considered to be a separate structure with fixed and invariant characteristics. Rather, many theorists now use the term to refer to those contents of long-term memory that are currently activated and undergoing processing.
The evidence we have just reviewed concerning coding, capacity and trace duration can be taken not only as evidence against the discrete memory structures proposed by the multistore model, but also as evidence for a continuum of mental processing where the type of coding or type of
processing determines how much can be retained and for how long. This is in essence the basis of Craik and Lockhart’s levels of processing approach to memory.
The levels of processing framework enjoyed almost immediate acceptance among a wide
range of memory theorists, and multistore memory models were soon abandoned. But
even though multistore models are no longer utilized in memory research, it is important to realize that some of the concepts developed in these models continue to be used by memory theorists. For example, there is still general acceptance of the notion of sensory memories. Also, memory theorists continue to use the term short-term memory.
However, short-term memory is no longer considered to be a separate structure with fixed and invariant characteristics. Rather, many theorists now use the term to refer to those contents of long-term memory that are currently activated and undergoing processing.
