2. the multi store model

Question 1

SENSORY REGISTER
All stimuli from the environment pass into the sensory register. This part of memory comprises several registers, one for each of our five senses.

describe its coding, capacity and duration

Answer 1

· Coding in each store is modality specific - it depends on the sense e.g. visual information = iconic memory
· Duration is very brief - less than half a second.
· Capacity is very high.

Question 2

Information passes further only

Answer 2

if you pay attention to it.

Question 3

SHORT TERM MEMORY

coding, capacity, duration

Answer 3

· Information is coded mainly acoustically and lasts about 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed.
· Capacity is limited to 7 plus or minus 2 items as it is a temporary store.

Question 4

LONG TERM MEMORY
Is the potentially permanent memory store for information that has been rehearsed for a prolonged time.

coding, capacity, duration

Answer 4

· Coding is mostly semantic.
· The capacity is thought to be unlimited and memories potentially last up to a lifetime

Question 4

Maintenance rehearsal occurs when we

Answer 4

rehearse material repeatedly. We keep the information in our STM if we rehearse it.

Question 5

If we rehearse material long enough, it passes onto

Answer 5

long term memory

Question 6

When we want to recall information from the LTM, it must

Answer 6

be transferred back to the STM by a process called retrieval.

Question 7

AO3: strength of the MSM

research support - Baddeley, Jacobs, Bahrick

Answer 7

Baddeley found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when we are using our STMs, whereas we mix up words with similar meanings when using our LTM. Further support comes from Bahrick, Jacobs and Peterson & Peterson who showed STM and LTM have different duration and capacity.
This clearly shows that STM and LTM are separate and independent memory stores, as claimed by the MSM.

Question 8

AO3: limitation of the MSM

artificial stimuli used by supporting studies

Answer 8

In everyday life, we form memories related to people’s names, faces, facts, places etc. but many studies supporting the MSM used digits, letters (Jacobs) and even consonant syllables of no meaning (Peterson & Peterson).
This means that the MSM may not be a valid model of how memory works in our everyday lives where we remember much more meaningful information.

Question 9

AO3: limitation of the MSM

Shallice & Warrington - KF (more than 1 type of STM)

Answer 9

There is more than one STM store.
Shallice and Warrington studied KF, who had amnesia. KF’s STM for digits was very poor when they were read out loud to him, but his recall was much better when he read the digits out to himself.
This evidence suggests that the MSM was wrong in claiming that there is just one STM store processing different types of information.

Question 10

AO3: limitation of the MSM

bygone model - more than 1 type of LTM

Answer 10

Atkinson and Shiffrin based the MSM on the research evidence available at the time that showed STM and LTM to be single memory stores, separate and independent of each other.
However, there is a lot of evidence that shows LTM, like STM is not a single memory store. For example, there is a long-term store for our memories for the facts of the world, and there is a separate one for memories of actions and skills, like how to ride a bicycle.
This means that the MSM is an oversimplified model of memory and may not be useful.