Key Features of the MSM & Types of Memory

Question 1

when was the model invented?

Answer 1

1968

Question 2

what is the sensory register?

Answer 2

the first store that hold the sensory information received through all the senses for a brief period of time.

Question 3

what is capacity?

Answer 3

the measure of how much can be held in memory.

Question 4

what is the multi-store model of memory?

Answer 4

model that suggests memory is a linear process where memory has three different stores

Question 5

who invented the msm model?

Answer 5

atkinson and shiffrin

Question 6

what is the STM?

Answer 6

the memory of immediate events. these memories tend not to last and decay unless they are rehearsed.

Question 7

what is long-term memory?

Answer 7

the memory for past events that can last for the life-time of a person.

Question 8

what is encoding?

Answer 8

as information enters the brain via the senses, it is transformed into a code so that it can be stored. the codes can be visual, acoustic and semantic.

Question 9

what is duration?

Answer 9

the measure of how long memory lasts before it is no longer available.

Question 10

what is the duration of the sensory register?

Answer 10

250 milliseconds

1/4 of a second

Question 11

what is the capacity of the sensory register?

Answer 11

very large

Question 12

how is the STM coded?

Answer 12

acoustically - i.e. in the form of sounds or spoken words

Question 13

what is the duration of the STM?

Answer 13

15-30 seconds

Question 14

what is the capacity of the STM?

Answer 14

7 +/- 2 chunks of information

Question 15

how is the LTM coded?

Answer 15

semantically and temporally

Question 16

what is the duration of the LTM?

Answer 16

up to a lifetime

Question 17

what is the capacity of the LTM?

Answer 17

potentially unlimited. (info can be lost due to interference or decay but this does not have anything to do with the capacity of the store).

Question 18

outline the multi-store model of memory

Answer 18

1. The sensory store is constantly receiving information from the environment. Most of this information receives no attention and so is lost
2. However, if the information that enters the sensory stores is attended to, then this information is encoded and passes through to the short term memory (STM).
3. Once in the STM, information (if not rehearsed), can be lost through either displacement (this is because the STM has a capacity of 7+/- 2 items) or decay (as the STM only has a duration of 0-18 seconds).
4. If information is elaborately rehearsed then the information will be transferred/encoded into the long term memory (LTM).
5. The LTM can hold information for an unlimited amount of time and has an unlimited capacity.
6. When stored information is needed, it can be retrieved from the LTM back to the STM.

Question 19

what is storage?

Answer 19

process of retaining memory until required

Question 20

what is retrieval?

Answer 20

process of locating stored information and extracting it from memory

Question 21

what is chunking?

Answer 21

the process of combining separate pieces of information into larger ones, which can be rehearsed as units, to increase STM capacity

Question 22

what is decay?

Answer 22

loss of memory due to the passage of time, during which the memory trace is not used

Question 23

what is a trigram?

Answer 23

group of 3 consonants to remember

Question 24

what is digit span?

Answer 24

how many digits can be retained and recalled

Question 25

what is a mnemonic?

Answer 25

a system for remembering something such as an association or a pattern of letters

Question 26

what is the ‘main statement’ of the MSM?

Answer 26

information is processed, and there is a distinction between STM and LTM

Question 27

what are the 3 types of LTM?

Answer 27

1. episodic memory
2. semantic memory
3. procedural memory

Question 28

what is episodic memory?

Answer 28

personal events, memories of when the events occurred and the people, objects, places and behaviours involved

Question 29

what is semantic memory?

Answer 29

knowledge of the world, includes facts and our knowledge of what words and concepts mean

Question 30

what is procedural memory?

Answer 30

knowledge of how to do things, knowledge of learned skills (unconsciously recalled)

Question 31

give 3 examples of episodic memory

Answer 31

first day of school, your first kiss, attending a friend’s birthday party

Question 32

give 3 examples of a semantic memory?

Answer 32

recognizing the names of colors, remembering what a dog is, knowing how to use a phone

Question 33

give 3 examples of a procedural memory?

Answer 33

swimming, driving a car, riding a bike

Question 34

which ‘types of LTM’ are explicit/declarative memories, and which are implicit/procedural memories?

Answer 34

episodic and semantic memory = explicit/declarative

procedural memory = implicit/procedural

Question 35

what is the LTM divided into?

Answer 35

1. explicit (declarative) memories

2. implicit (procedural) memories

Question 36

what does explicit (declarative) memory mean?

Answer 36

knowing that

Question 37

what does implicit (procedural) memory mean?

Answer 37

knowing how

Question 38

what is the primacy and recency effect?

Answer 38

the tendency to recall earlier words is called the primacy effect;
the tendency to recall the later words is called the recency effect

Question 39

according to the MSM, memory consists of 3 basic stores…

Answer 39

• sensory register
• short-term store
• long term store

Question 40

what are the 5 evaluation points for the types of LTM?

Answer 40

1. evidence from brain scans
2. distinguishing procedural and declarative memories
3. problems with evidence from patients with brain damage
4. distinguishing episodic and semantic memories
5. priming and a fourth kind of LTM

Question 41

what is the PEEL paragraph for the types of LTM evaluation point ‘distinguishing procedural and declarative memories’?

Answer 41

P - evidence from case studies offers further support for different types of LTM
E - for instance, after the surgery, HM could still form new procedural memories but not episodic or semantic memories. For example, he was able to learn how to draw a figure by looking at its reflection in a mirror, a skill called mirror-drawing.
E- this is a procedural memory. However, he had no memory that he had learned this (an episodic/semantic memory).
L - this supports the distinction between procederul and declerative memories, and hence the existence of multiple types of LTM

Question 42

what is the PEEL paragraph for the types of LTM evaluation point ‘priming and a fourth kind of LTM’?

Answer 42

P - the possibility that other types of LTM may exist raises questions about existing theories
E - For example, priming describes how implicit memories influence the responses a person makes to a stimulus. If a person is given a list of words including the word ‘yellow’ and is later asked to name a fruit, they are more likely to answer ‘banana’ than if not primed.
E - this is a kind of implicit memory because the answers are automatic and unconscious. Research has shown that priming is controlled by a brain system separate from the temporal system that supports explicit memory (semantic and episodic memories). This had lead to the suggestion of a fourth kind of LTM, the perceptual-representation system (PRS) memory related to priming, supported by Spiers et al (2001).
L - this suggests that other types of LTM may exist and the original theory of LTM may be too simplistic

Question 43

what is the PEEL paragraph for the types of LTM evaluation point ‘evidence from brain scans’?

Answer 43

P - the distinction between the 3 kinds of LTM is supported by brain scan research.
E - Episodic memory is associated with the hippocampus and other parts of the temporal lobe where the hippocampus is located, as well as with activity in the frontal lobe.
Semantic memory also relies on the temporal lobe. Procedural memory activation is associated with the cerebellum, which is involved in the control of fine motor skills as well as the motor cortex.
The basal galina and limbic system are also involved in this kind of learning.
L - brain scans therefore indicating that the 3 types of memory are found in different parts of the brain and are therefore seperate