🧠 Models of Memory

📌Definition Table

Term Definition
MemoryThe process by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved.
EncodingTransforming sensory input into a form that can be processed and stored.
StorageMaintaining encoded information in memory over time.
RetrievalAccessing stored information for use.
Working Memory Model (WMM)An updated model that explains active processing within STM (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974).
Multi-Store Model (MSM)Theoretical model proposed by Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968), describing separate stores for sensory input, STM, and LTM.
RehearsalThe process of repeatedly practicing information to transfer it from STM to LTM.

📌Core Concepts

🧠 Core Theories and Models

1. The Multi-Store Model (MSM) – Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)

Overview:
The MSM suggests that memory operates in three distinct stores:

  • Sensory Memory – detects information and holds it briefly (iconic, echoic, etc.).
  • Short-Term Memory (STM) – processes information through rehearsal; limited capacity.
  • Long-Term Memory (LTM) – relatively permanent store of encoded information.

Key Processes:

  • Attention: Transfers information from sensory → STM.
  • Rehearsal: Transfers STM → LTM.
  • Retrieval: LTM → STM for use.



The Working Memory Model (WMM) – Baddeley & Hitch (1974)

Overview:
A more detailed model of STM, emphasizing active processing of information.

Components:

  • Central Executive: Controls attention and coordinates subsystems.
  • Phonological Loop: Processes auditory/verbal information.
  • Visuospatial Sketchpad: Processes visual/spatial data.
  • Episodic Buffer (added in 2000): Integrates information across domains into coherent episodes.

📌Key Studies

📄 Glanzer & Cunitz (1966)

  • Participants recalled word lists immediately or after a delay.
  • Immediate recall showed a primacy and recency effect (first and last words remembered).
  • Delayed recall removed recency effect, showing STM–LTM distinction.
    ✅ Supports MSM — suggests separate memory stores.

Evaluation:

⚠️ Neglects interaction between stores.

✅ Empirical support (Glanzer & Cunitz; Milner’s HM case).

⚠️ Oversimplifies memory as linear

⚠️ Does not explain why some information transfers to LTM better.

📄 Baddeley, Lewis, & Vallar (1984)

  • Participants asked to perform a reasoning task while repeating a sequence of digits (articulatory suppression).
  • Performance decreased slightly but remained possible — showing two independent components.
    ✅ Supports WMM — multiple active subsystems.

Evaluation:

⚠️ Lacks full biological validation.

✅ Supported by dual-task studies.

✅ Explains multitasking and active information processing.

⚠️ Central Executive is vaguely defined.

🔍Tok link

Memory models are theoretical — not directly observable.

TOK reflection: Is memory a physical construct or a mental abstraction inferred from behavior?
How can we claim to “know” memory exists as distinct stores if we can’t see them?

 🌐 Real-World Connection

  • MSM principles used in education (chunking, rehearsal).
  • WMM applied to attention disorders like ADHD — deficits in the central executive.
  • Cognitive rehabilitation programs use WMM to improve memory in stroke or trauma patients.

❤️ CAS Link

  • Create memory-awareness campaigns in your school community.
  • Demonstrate effects of multitasking or distraction on recall using peer experiments.
  • Reflect on how cognitive strategies improve learning — linking science to well-being.

🧠  IA Guidance

  • Design IA experiments on serial position effect (MSM) or dual-task interference (WMM).
  • Ethical and low-risk: use word recall, digit span, or multitasking tasks.
  • Quantitative data: mean recall accuracy, t-tests to compare conditions.

🧠 Examiner Tips

  • Always name the model and study explicitly.
  • Explain mechanisms (rehearsal, attention, encoding).
  • Contrast MSM and WMM to show conceptual understanding.
  • Use critical thinking terms: reductionism, ecological validity, construct validity.