MSM Flashcards
Who proposed the multistore model
Proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin
How does information pass through the model
Pass through the memory processing system in a set order from one store to another
How does the MSM work
Information enters via the sensory store (via sight, sound, taste, smell or touch), and if you pay attention to it, it moves into short-term memory (STM). If rehearsed, material can be stored in long-term memory (LTM); if not rehearsed, material is lost and forgotten.
What are the three basic stores of human memory identified in the multi-store model?
- Sensory register
- Short-term store (STM)
- Long-term store (LTM)
What is the function of the sensory register?
It acts as a buffer for all the information in the environment.
How long does the sensory register hold information?
A few hundred milliseconds.
What happens to information in the sensory store if attention is paid to it?
It moves into short-term memory (STM).
What is the duration of short-term memory (STM)?
15-30 seconds for information that has been attended to and then it is thought to decay completely unless maintained through rehearsal
What did Peterson & Peterson (1959) investigate regarding STM?
The duration of STM using an interference task.
Participants were required to remember a single trigram consisting of three consonants (such as BDF) for intervals of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 seconds. The trigram was read to the participants and then they were given a number from which they had to count backwards in threes (e.g. 679, 676, 673 etc). Correct recall of the trigram was likely after a short interval but performance dropped rapidly after 15-18 seconds.
What is the capacity of STM?
Around 5-8 items of information. 7 plus or minus 2
What did Miller (1956) refine the capacity of STM to?
The magic number 7±2.
How is information encoded in short-term memory?
Primarily auditory or verbal.
They believed that a memory in STM was auditory or verbal because of the phonological similarity effect.
Phonological similarity effect
Letters and words with a similar sound are more difficult to recall than dissimilar sounding ones. When they are similar it leads to confusion in the STM suggesting that encoding is primarily acoustic
What is required to maintain information in short-term memory?
Rehearsal.
What is the role of rehearsal in transferring information to long-term memory?
It increases the strength of the memory trace.
What is the potential duration of long-term memory (LTM)?
A lifetime.
What did Bahrick (1975) find regarding very long-term memory?
Identification of names and faces was 90% accurate within 15 years of leaving school.
What did Brady et al (2008) demonstrate about the capacity of LTM?
It is potentially infinite.
Showed participants 2500 objects over 5.5hours. They were then shown pairs of objects and asked to identify which of the two they had seen. When the original object was paired with a very different one identification was 92% compared to 88% when they were similar.
What is the importance of linking new information to pre-existing knowledge in LTM?
It makes retrieval easier.
What is the ‘tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon’?
A situation where an individual feels they can recognize an answer but cannot recall it.
In what forms can long-term memories exist?
- Taste
- Smell
- Sound
- Visual
Fill in the blank: The multi-store model of memory states that information enters via the _______.
sensory store.
Evaluation- Supporting studies
-Clive wearing
P- There is research support from the case of clive wearing
E- Clive suffers from retrograde amnesia and is unable to form new long term memories
E- Provides evidence for the existance of separate stores as he seems unable to form new LTM memories and currently lives in his STM. Also provides evidene for rehearsal loop as his isnt intact
