Memory: the multi-store memory model Flashcards
what’s the MSM?
Atkinson + Shiffrin. a representation of how memory works in terms of 3 stores: sensory register, STM and LTM. it describes how information is transferred from 1 store to another, how it’s remembered and forgotten.
what’s the sensory register?
a stimulus from the environment will pass into the sensory register. there are several stores for each of the 5 senses. iconic memory is visual and echoic is auditory. material lasts briefly (less than 1/2 a second). very high capacity.
what’s the STM?
capacity 5-9, duration 18-30, coded acoustically. maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat information to ourselves over and over again. we can keep the information in STM as long as we rehearse it enough to be passed to LTM.
what’s the LTM?
the permenant memory store. unlimited capacity and duration, coded semantically. the information has to be transferred back to STM via retrieval.
what’s the case of HM?
he underwent surgery for his epilepsy. when his memory was assessed in 1955, he thought it was 1953 and believed he was 27, not 31. he had little recall of the operation and couldn’t remember speaking with someones an hour earlier.
what’s research support for the MSM? (A03)
Baddeley found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when using STM and mix up words with similar meanings using our LTM. this supports the idea that STM is acoustic and LTM is semantic so they are qualitatively different and independent stores.
what is the idea that there’s more than 1 types of memory? (A03)
the MSM states STM is a unitary store. however evidence from people with amnesia shows this isn’t true. Shallice + Warrington studied KF (amnesia) and found his STM for digits was poor when they were read out to him but better when he could read them himself. research shows there’s 1 STM process for visual information and 1 for auditory
what’s the idea that there’s more than 1 type of rehearsal? (A03)
the MSM says what matter is the amount of rehearsal you do when it’s actually the type of rehearsal. Craik + Watkins found 2 types of rehearsal: maintenance and elaborative (needed for LTM). it occurs when you link exisitng knowledge to the information.
