Up Learn – A Level Psychology (AQA) – Memory

Evaluating the Multi-Store Model of Memory: Patient KF Case Study

The multi-store model predicts that if people have damage to their short-term memory, then they will also have damage to their long-term memory. But patients like patient KF have damage to their short-term memory without damage to their long-term memory. So, the first limitation of the multi-store model is that it isn’t supported by findings from case studies.

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Limitations of the Multi-store Model: Patient KF Case Study

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Up Learn – A Level PsychologY (AQA)

Memory

Last time we saw the story of patient KF, a man with impaired short-term memory but no damage to his long-term memory, whose condition challenged the multi-store model of memory.

Now, we already saw earlier, that the multi-store model says…

The multi-store model says that we have three memory stores: the sensory register, the short-term memory store, and the long-term memory store.

Information flows unidirectionally through the stores. To pass into short-term memory, information in the sensory register has to be paid attention to.

And to pass into the long-term memory store, information in short-term memory has to be rehearsed.

So, according to the multi-store model, to be stored in long-term memory, information has to first go through short-term memory. If it’s rehearsed, the information is then transferred to long-term memory.

But if it isn’t rehearsed in short-term memory, the information simply fades away.

So, the multi-store model predicts that…

The multi-store model predicts that a person can have damage to their long-term memory without their short-term memory being affected…

…But if a person’s short-term memory is damaged, they lose both their short and their long-term memories… because without being able to rehearse information in short-term memory, it can’t be transferred to long-term memory!

But, we also saw last time that patient KF’s motorbike accident impaired his short-term memory, but left his long-term memory intact.

And later case studies of other patients like KF also revealed similar findings: patients can damage their short-term memory without damaging their long-term memory!

So, a first limitation of the multi-store model is that it isn’t supported by findings from case studies of patients like KF.

Now, we’ll look at two more limitations of the multi-store model next.

But first, to sum up…

To sum it up, the multi-store model predicts that if people have damage to their short-term memory, then they will also have damage to their long-term memory.

But patients like patient KF have damage to their short-term memory without damage to their long-term memory.

So, the first limitation of the multi-store model is that it isn’t supported by findings from case studies.