MSM Flashcards
what is the MSM
- a structural model (representation) of memory that they called the MSM. it was the first complex model of human memory
- each store is unitary and information is transferred from one store to another in a fixed, linear sequence
-Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) suggested memory is made up of sensory register, STM, LTM
what is the sensory register
- the memory stores for each of our 5 senses (iconic, echoic)
- a stimulus from the environment passes into the sensory register which receives all the information and holds it briefly
- information that you pay attention to will pass into your memory system
Sensory register features
capacity: high
duration: less than half a second
95-99% lost as we do not pay attention to it
STM features
capacity: 5-9 items
duration: up to 30 seconds without rehearsal
coding: acoustic
- info leaves STM via response and recall
- info is transferred to LTM via prolonged rehearsal (rehearsing the info for long enough)
- info stays in STM by maintenance rehearsal (repeating the info to yourself)
LTM features
capacity: unlimited
duration: up to a lifetime
coding: semantic
supporting evidence from Peterson and Peterson and Bahrick et al.’s studies
- Peterson and Peterson found that duration of STM is up to 30s and Bahrick et al. found that duration of LTM is up to a lifetime
- this supports that STM and LTM are unitary stores
supporting evidence from Baddeley’s study
- found that LTM is coded semantically and STM is coded acoustically
- supports that they are unitary stores
problems with supporting evidence
- Baddeley and Peterson used artificial stimuli
- lacks mundane realism and generalisability
- not externally valid
- so studies arent strong enough to support STM and LTM being unitary stores as proposed by the MSM
supporting research- HM
- HM had brain surgery to relieve epilepsy
- he didnt have any LTMs, couldnt recall what he ate earlier that day
- he performed well on STM tests
- supports MSM as LTM and STM are unitary stores as one can be damaged whilst the other is intact
Counterargument - HM
- unique case of brain damage so results cant be generalisable to other people
undermining research- KF
- Shallice and Washington studied patient with amnesia called KF
- his STM for digits was poor when they were read out loud to him
- his recall was better when he read them to himself
- limitation of MSM because it suggests that there is more than 1 type of STM as 1 is damaged while the other remains in tact
undermining evidence- more than 1 type of LTM
- evidence from HM says we have more than 1 type of LTM
- when drawing a star between 2 concentric ones whilst looking in a mirror, he improved over time
- but he still couldnt remember that he had done the task before
- suggests that episodic memory was damaged while procedural memory was still intact
