Multi-store Model of the Memory Example Answer - 16 marker
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This document contains an example answer to a 16 mark A-level question on the multi-store model of the memory, assessing Assessment Outcome’s 1 (demonstrating knowledge of theory) and 3 (evaluating theory). This type of question may appear in the AQA A-level 'Introduction to Psychology' (Paper 1)...
Outline the multi-store model of the memory and consider its strengths and/or limitations. (16
marks)
The multi-store model of the memory was devised by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968. The model
suggests there are three permanent structural components of the memory system; sensory memory
(SM), short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). The sensory memory records
information from the senses. The short-term memory has the capacity to hold information for a very
brief time, it maintains information through maintenance rehearsal, and can lose it through decay or
displacement. The long-term memory, however, has the potential to hold unlimited amounts of
information for as long as a lifetime. The multi-store model works by showing us how we can
remember a piece of information well. For that, we need to both pay attention to it - enabling the
information to be passed from the sensory memory to the short-term memory - and rehearse it.
Through maintenance rehearsal we can keep information in our short-term memory. However, it is
through elaborative rehearsal that we are able to transfer that information into our LTM. This theory
is supported by Murdock’s 1962 study, the ‘Serial Position Curve’.
The multi-store model of the memory is supported by the research of Murdock (1962) in his ‘Serial
Position Curve’ study. Participants were asked to recall several lists of words. A frequency graph was
then completed by the investigator, showing how frequently the position of a word was recalled
correctly. He found that words in the middle of the list were remembered least well. Murdock came
to the conclusion that it was due to primacy effect and recency effect. Primacy effect is the name
given to the idea that the first few words heard have been rehearsed the most, and so we are able
to recall them using our long-term memory. Recency effect is the name given to the idea that the
last few words are the words most recently heard, and so we are able to recall them as they are
within our short-term memory. Therefore, the ‘Serial Position Curve’ study, conducted by Murdock
in 1962, supports the multi-store model and the idea of memory stores because it indicates that we
have two separate memory stores - our short-term memory and our long-term memory. These are
both represented clearly in the multi-store model. However, Murdock’s study may be of limited
usefulness as it was conducted as a laboratory experiment, meaning that the findings obtained may
lack ecological validity. Consequently, the multi-store model of the memory is significantly useful as
it is supported by the ‘Serial Position Curve’ study where it is heavily implied that we have two
separate memory stores. However, it is important to note that those findings may not show us
exactly what happens in the real world as it was conducted within a laboratory. As a result, we
should interpret these results with care.
Another strength of the multi-store model is that it is supported by the case study of Clive Wearing.
Clive has virtually no long-term memory as a result of a virus that destroyed parts of his brain.
However, he can still play music and recall his wife Deborah. Strangely, his short-term memory still
works. Therefore, the multi-store model is particularly useful as it is supported by Blakemore’s 1988
case study of Clive Wearing, in which it proves there are two separate memory stores - long-term
memory and short-term memory.
A potential limitation of the multi-store model of the memory is that it is far too simple. This can be
shown by Shallice and Warrington’s 1970 case study of a man named K.F. His memory had been
impaired as a result of a motorbike accident. Although his case supported there being two separate
memory stores, the deficits he experienced in his short-term memory were only for verbal
information. Shallice and Warrington found that his short-term memory for visual and acoustic
material was perfectly normal. This suggests that there may be more than one type of short-term
memory. Therefore, the multi-store model of the memory may be of limited usefulness as K.F.’s case
study suggests that there could be several types of short-term memory - the multi-store model does
not show any, thus meaning it is far too simple. This being said, a particular advantage of K.F.’s case
is that as a result of it being longitudinal, - as most case studies are - it gives a very detailed and in-
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