Memory Flashcards
Atkinson and Shiffrin’s (1968)
Multi-Store Model of Memory (MSM)
They suggested that memory is made up of three separate stores: sensory register (SR), short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).
What does the MSM suggest?
According to the model, memories are formed sequentially and information passes from one component to the next, in a linear fashion.
Coding
The way in which information is changed and stored in memory.
Duration
Length of time that information is held in the memory store
Capacity
The amount of information that can be stored.
How does information enter the sensory register?
Via our senses
SR: Capacity
Large
SR: Duration
~Half a second
Modality-specific
SR is modality-specific, ie whichever sense is registered will match the way it is consequently held (eg a taste held as a taste)
What happens if the sensory information is paid attention to?
It moves into the STM for temporary storage, which will be encoded visually (as an image), acoustically, (as a sound) or, less often, semantically (through its meaning).
STM Capacity
7 +/- 2 items
STM Duration
~ 18-30 seconds
However, it can be extended by verbal rehearsal (rehearsal loop)
How is STM coded?
Acoustically (sound)
What happens if information in STM is rehearsed?
Rehearsed information is transferred to LTM, either through maintenance rehearsal (repeating the information) or elaborating rehearsal (linking to information already in LTM).
Capacity of LTM
Unlimited
Duration of LTM
Lifetime/years
How is information in the LTM coded?
Semantically (by meaning)
According to the MSM, how do we recall information from our LTM to STM?
Through retrieval.
But information can be lost via displacement (new info) or decay (lost over time)
SR: Coding
Raw/unprocessed information from all five senses (modality specific)
Researches that support the MSM
Jacobs found that the STM store has a limited capacity of 7+/-2 items;
Miller (1956) supports the idea that our STM has a capacity of 7+/- 2 ‘chunks’ of information / items;
Peterson & Peterson (1959) support the idea of a limited duration in STM;
Baddley (1966) supports the notion of different types of encoding in STM and LTM;
Bahrick (1975) supports the idea of an unlimited duration in LTM
Miller (1956): Capacity of STM - AIM
To investigate the capacity of STM
Miller (1956): Capacity of STM - METHOD
Literature review of published investigations into perception and STM, from the 1930s to 1950s
Miller (1956): Capacity of STM - RESULTS
This existing research suggested that organising stimulus input into a series of chunks enabled STM to cope with about seven ‘chunks’, and this is why more than seven digits, words or even musical notes could be remembered successfully.
Miller (1956): Capacity of STM - CONCLUSION
Encoding can expand the capacity of STM and enable more information to be stored there, albeit briefly.