a case study was carried out on peter

Past exam questions relating to the Multi store model

Be sure to check out the tips page for some general help in answering questions. Remember this list is not exhaustive: you may get a different question in your exam relating to this part of the topic that isn’t on here.

• A case study was carried out on Peter whose brain was damaged in a motorcycle accident. Psychologists tested how many numbers he could hold in his short-term memory. They did this by reading him lists of numbers and asking him to recall the numbers immediately in the right order. He could recall a maximum of two items. The psychologists found that his long-term memory was normal. How was Peter’s short term memory after the accident different from most adult’s short term memory? This is an example of a stimulus (or STEM) question. You have to apply your knowledge to an unfamiliar scenario. Here you need to remember what is said about the STM, more specifically it’s capacity.
• Outline the main features of the multi store model of memory. (6 marks). Here you would only talk about what the model consists of and not evaluation.
• Describe one way in which psychologists have measured the duration of short term memory. (4 marks) . Here you would use a study such as Peterson + Peterson’s study but not evaluation. If your teacher has provided you with a different study, you could use that one instead.
• Describe and evaluate the multi store model of memory (12 marks) . Here you would pretty much use everything from this overview and evaluation points. You do not need to explain the individual studies for capacity, duration and encoding in STM/LTM but you can refer to them.
• Explain two differences between short term memory and long term memory in regards to the multi store model of memory. (4 marks). Outline the difference between capacity of STM and capacity of LTM. (2 marks) Here you would use your knowledge of the differences in capacity, duration and encoding of LTM and STM e.g. in the STM information is encoded acoustically whereas in the LTM it is encoded semantically. With ‘explain’ be sure not to write just one word answers.