Memory MSM

Question 1

Sensory register

Answer 1

Sensory register: a stimulus from the environment will pass into the sensory registers into two main stores - iconic memory (visual information is coded visually) and echoic memory (sound/auditory information is coded acoustically.
The duration of material is less than half a second
Hugh capacity
Attention is needed to information for it to pass in to the STM

Question 2

Short-term memory (STM)

Answer 2

Short-term memory (STM): limited capacity store - 7+/- items - Miller
Information is coded acoustically and lasts 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed

Question 3

Maintenance rehearsal

Answer 3

Maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat material to ourselves over and over again and if done for long enough, it passed into the LTM

Question 4

Long-term memory (LTM)

Answer 4

Long-term memory (LTM)
Potentially permanent memory store for information that has been rehearsed
Capacity is unlimited and can last many years
LTM coded semantically (in terms of meaning)
Bahrick et al found participants being able to remember names and faces of classmates 50 years after graduating

Question 5

Supporting evidence

Answer 5

MSM is supported by different studies e.g Bahrick et al and Miller

Miller (1956) presented the idea that short-term memory could only hold 5-9 chunks of information (seven plus or minus two) where a chunk is any meaningful unit. A chunk could refer to digits, words, chess positions, or people’s faces.

Bahrick et al found participants being able to remember names and faces of classmates 50 years after graduating

Question 6

Refuting evidence: There is more than one type of STM

Answer 6

There is more than one type of STM: the MSM states that there STM is a unitary store (only one type of short-term memory) however evidence from people suffering from amnesia shows this cannot be true. Shallice and Warrington studied a patient known as KF whose short-term memory for digits that were read to him was very poor but his recall was better when he read the digits out loud to himself. This is limitation as it means there must be one more short-term store to process visual information and another to process auditory information (WMM includes these separate stores)

Question 7

Refuting evidence: There is more than one type of rehearsal

Answer 7

There is more than one type of rehearsal: According to the MSM the more you rehearse information, the more likely you are to transfer it to LTM and remember it for a long time; however Craik and Watkins found that the type of rehearsal matters more. Two types - maintenance rehearsal does not transfer information into LTM, it just maintains it in STM. Elaborative rehearsal is needed for LTM which occurs when you link information to existing knowledge