Syllabus Edition
First teaching 2025
First exams 2027
Comparison of the Multi-store Model & the Working Memory Model (DP IB Psychology): Revision Note
Comparison of the MSM & the WMM
Similarities | Differences |
Both models conceptualise memory, i.e., they are both cognitive models.
| The MSM sees memory as unitary stores, whereas the WMM conceptualises memory as a dynamic, flexible process. |
Both models include detail as to the capacity and duration of each store/component. | The MSM includes a rehearsal loop for transferring information from STM to LTM whereas the WMM is vague about LTM. |
Both models are supported by lab experiments (e.g., Glanzer & Cunitz; Baddeley) and case studies of brain-damaged patients (e.g., HM, KF) | The MSM is supported by serial position effect lab studies, whereas the WMM however, is supported by dual-task studies . |
Lab-based research to support both models lacks mundane realism (artificial tasks) and case studies lack generalisability (one participant). | The WMM can explain parallel processing of information via the VSS and the PL, which the MSM fails to do. |
The capacity and function of the CE and EB have never been measured nor has the exact duration and capacity of LTM. | The WMM only involves STM, so it is not a full model of memory like the MSM. It does not explain changes in processing ability that occur as the result of practice or time . |
Link to concepts
Perspective
The concept of WM is very useful in terms of understanding how people attend to the ‘here and now’, which can be applied to educational and clinical settings
E.g., testing cognitive ability or possible deficits in attention or information processing
The MSM does not have such a direct application to other settings
Bias
It is possible that both models lack cultural relativism
They are biased to Westernised, rather than collectivist, concepts of memory
Eastern collectivist cultures tend to focus on contextual information and group/social relationships in memory which may not fit neatly into a model or diagram
The cognitive approach uses machine reductionism to depict human cognition
E.g., models of memory, which may not align with cultures where the 'human' element of memory is more important than the processes involved in its formation
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