“The multi-store model of memory (Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968) offers a complete account of the workings of human memory”
Memory is the title that has been provided to the structures as well as processes, which intricate in the storage and future retrieval of information. Information can be of various forms like images, sounds or meanings. According to the psychologists, the term memory encloses three necessary aspects of processing information and they are memory encoding, storage and retrieval (Tonegawa et al. 2015). Encoding information means information enters the memory system from sensory inputs and then they must be modified in such a form where the human memory system can cope as well as store it. The next aspect is of storage of information that for how long information has been stored or what is the capacity of storage at any time. Lastly, retrieval is taking out the stored information from the memory. In the aspect of retrieval comes the concept of STM and LTM that is for STM the information is stored and retrieved consecutively whereas, in LTM it is done by association. However, in this report the discussion will be mainly on whether MSM of memory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968 provides an outright description of the operations in a human memory. Moreover, researches related to this topic will be evaluated along with discussion of an alternative model of memory.
In 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin suggested the Multistore model of memory (MSM) which is further called Modal model. According to the model the important principles are that memory consists of total three stores, which are the sensory register, the short-term memory (STM) and the long-term memory (LTM). The information is passed against one store to the other in a straight manner and defined as the information-processing model just like that of a computer with a facility of input, processing as well as the output (Ornstein 2014). Information here is mainly perceived by the senses after which they invade the sensory memory. Now if this information gets attention then only it will be invading the short-term memory (STM). Then, if this piece of information is rehearsed then it will be shifted from STM to the long-term memory (LTM). Therefore, the information is forgotten if there is lack of maintenance rehearsal as well as the information may get lost even from the STM by the process of displacement or decay (Baddeley et al. 2012).
In the memory stores however, each of the stores are uniform structure and have their own features in names of encoding, the capacity as well as duration.
1. The ways in which information are modified so that in the memory they can be stored is known as Encoding. Three ways are there through which information can be encoded and they are-
2. The amount of information one can store is called the Capacity.
3. The period of time until which the information can be stored inside the memory and this is known as Duration.
However, there are three basic types of memory and they are as follows-
Duration- ¼ to ½ seconds
Capacity- larger capacity due to experiences from all senses
Encoding- various stores for each sense organs.
Duration- 0-18 seconds
Capacity- 7+/- items
Encoding- mostly auditory
Duration- limitless
Capacity- limitless
Encoding- many semantic but mainly visual and auditory.
Thus, the sensory memory, the STM and the LTM are interlinked and mainly work in coordination so that they can assist the brain in storing information to recall in the future. However, this model has certain strengths as it delivers a clear understanding of the structure as well as the process of the short-term memory. Thus, this model is impactful in generating a lot of research on memory. However, there are many studies on memory that helps the differences between the STM and the LTM in accordance with encoding, then duration and capacity but this MSM model narrates primacy and recency effects as well. Murdock has this experiment done in 1962 about serial positions where the participants were bestowed with a list of words and were requested to freely recall them (Hintzman 2016). The outcome suggested that the words that are in the beginning of the list or the ones that were in the end were better recalled than the middle ones, which was mostly forgotten. Thus, the words prior in the list were pushed into LTM thus, primacy effect as they have been rehearsed acoustically and the words in the end of the list were pushed into STM thus, recency effect.
There are several studies done on memory that provides evidence about the working of human memory. However, Jacobs did an advance study on the STM capacity in 1887. This study came up with the analysis of ‘magical number’ 7+/- 2 which is assumed to be the number of item one can grasp in the STM (Jones and Macken 2015). However, Miller in 1956 tried to explore the reason behind this limitation and came up with the reason that it is not because of the load of the information but rather in a word, there is more information than just being a binary figure. However, before Miller, Jacob established this concept when he presented a group of participants with sequence of numbers and was asked to repeat them in proper order. The sequences increased gradually from short to long with one digit at a time. The result that Jacob found was a digit span of 9.3 on an average, but the average was 7.3 items when letters were used. He also found an impact of age difference as digit span increases all over childhood (Schneider 2015).
In 1959, Peterson & Peterson in their study explored the duration of STM as well as provided factual evidences for MSM. They guided an experiment where 24 participants had been given the task of recalling trigrams (Wang et al. 2015). Trigrams are three consonant syllables that have no meaning. However, participates were also restricted from rehearsing what they have learned by making them count backward from any random number. This technique is known as brown Peterson technique. Therefore, the result was that STM has a finite duration if rehearsal is blocked which is followed by loss of information from STM. Moreover, it also displays that if duration is to be considered then STM is divergent from LTM and therefore, overall supporting the MSM of memory (Warrington 2014).
Baddeley in 1966 investigated the impact of acoustic and semantic coding in STM as well as LTM. In the first study, which was about STM the participants, were asked instantly to serially recall from the list of five words that were taken out from a pool of words that were presented to them. On the other hand, for LTM study each of the lists were increased to ten and then after providing them with an interval of twenty minutes they were asked to recall those words. The outcome was that words who sounds similar are much difficult to recall with the help of STM than those words are sounding different. Along with those words, which have similar meanings, are also found to have little harmful effect on STM. However, STM has been found in depending on acoustic coding while LTM on semantic coding (Henry et al. 2012).
In another study by Bahrick et al. 1975, their chief aim was to analyze the time span of very long-term memory (VLTM) by testing the duration by examining recall of information from real life. American high school students were the participants of this study who are in between the age group 17-74years. Participants has been tested on recall in four different methods-
The result finally concluded that classmates are seldom forgotten, however there are times when cues are needed and that recognition was more desirable than recall (PAMUKCU and AKBAROV 2015). Therefore, all these above research studies in a way supported the MSM of memory.
Baddeley & Hitch (1974) – Working memory model (WMM)
In 1974, Baddeley and Hitch came up with the alternative model to that of MSM of memory and thus, proposed the Working memory model. This model has been created to straightaway question the notion of one isolated unitary store for the memories in the short-term. However, this WMM is built on the results of the study of dual task, which further indicated that it has four different elements of the STM or the working memory (Aben, Stapert and Blokland 2012). The diagram below outlines the elements of the Working Memory Model-
The four main components of this model are described as below-
This model has several strength like there are confirmations through which the authenticity of phonological loop can be supported like for instance the word length effect of Baddeley in 1975. Along with evidences that can support visuo-spatial scratch pad like for instance in 1973, Baddeley’s experiment where participants holder a pointer with a spot of light that was moving while foreseeing the block letter F.
Conclusion
To conclude this report, it can be said that in 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed the Multistore model of the memory, which is also called Modal model. It proposes that the memory is considered to have three stores, which are sensory register, the STM or the LTM. This model makes it clear that sensory register, STM as well as LTM all are very much linked as sensory memory first registers the information then that information which are attended few are pushed to the STM from where the ones which are rehearsed moved to the LTM. According to the research evidences discussed above it is clear that MSM of memory, which has been proposed in the year 1968 by Atkinson, and Shiffrin provides an outright account of the operations of human memory. The alternative model to MSM has been discussed which is the Baddeley and Hitch’s WMM of 1974 which says that STM has four separate features namely central executive, then phonological loop, then the visuo-spatial scratch pad and lastly, episodic buffer and is not an isolated unitary store. Therefore, the strength of MSM is that it clearly outlines the understanding of the structure and the process of the short-term memory as well as the differences between STM and LTM. Whereas, in the alternative model of WMM is that it not only explains the storage but also defines the processing of information in the memory. On the other hand, the weakness of MSM is that the model is too simple and oversimplifies LTM and STM and for WMM the weakness is that the concept of central executive is too unclear and needs more explanation.
References
Aben, B., Stapert, S. and Blokland, A., 2012. About the distinction between working memory and short-term memory. Frontiers in psychology, 3.
Baddeley, A., Wandell, B.A., Rauschecker, A.M., Yeatman, J.D., Fiske, S.T., Schacter, D.L., Taylor, S.E. and Lefkowitz, R., 2012. Working Memory: Theories, Models, and Controversies. Annual Review of Psychology, 63.
Henry, L.A., Messer, D., Luger-Klein, S. and Crane, L., 2012. Phonological, visual, and semantic coding strategies and children’s short-term picture memory span. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65(10), pp.2033-2053.
Hintzman, D.L., 2016. Is memory organized by temporal contiguity?. Memory & cognition, 44(3), pp.365-375.
Jeneson, A. and Squire, L.R., 2012. Working memory, long-term memory, and medial temporal lobe function. Learning & Memory, 19(1), pp.15-25.
Jones, G. and Macken, B., 2015. Questioning short-term memory and its measurement: Why digit span measures long-term associative learning. Cognition, 144, pp.1-13.
Li, D., Cowan, N. and Saults, J.S., 2013. Estimating working memory capacity for lists of nonverbal sounds. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 75(1), pp.145-160.
Logie, R.H., 2014. Visuo-spatial working memory. Psychology Press.
Ornstein, P.A., 2014. Memory Development in Children (PLE: Memory) (Vol. 20). Psychology Press.
Otto, A.R., Raio, C.M., Chiang, A., Phelps, E.A. and Daw, N.D., 2013. Working-memory capacity protects model-based learning from stress. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(52), pp.20941-20946.
PAMUKCU, A. and AKBAROV, A., 2015. B?L??SEL SÜREÇ VE ?K?NC? D?LDE KEL?ME Ö?RENMEN?N ANAL?Z?. Erzincan Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 9(2), pp.221-232.
Schneider, W., 2015. A brief history of memory development research. In Memory development from early childhood through emerging adulthood (pp. 9-23). Springer International Publishing.
Tonegawa, S., Pignatelli, M., Roy, D.S. and Ryan, T.J., 2015. Memory engram storage and retrieval. Current opinion in neurobiology, 35, pp.101-109.
Wang, T., Ren, X., Li, X. and Schweizer, K., 2015. The modeling of temporary storage and its effect on fluid intelligence: Evidence from both Brown–Peterson and complex span tasks. Intelligence, 49, pp.84-93.
Warrington, E.K., 2014. The double dissociation of short-and long-term memory. Human Memory and Amnesia (PLE: Memory), 4, p.61.
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