Multi-Store Model (MSM) Flashcards
What is the order of the MSM?
Sensory register Attention STM Maintenance rehearsal Elaborative rehearsal/retrieval LTM
What is the sensory register?
Receives information from the environment and codes it into separate stores within the sensory register.
Coding of sensory register -
sense specific
Capacity of sensory register -
large
Duration of sensory register -
few milliseconds
Where does the STM get info from?
Stores info received from the sensory register
How is info kept in the STM?
through maintenance rehearsal
How is info sent to the LTM?
through elaborative rehearsal
Capacity of STM -
5 - 9 items as Jacobs research showed
Duration of STM -
approx 18 - 30 seconds as Peterson and Petersons’ research showed
Coding of STM -
Mainly semantic as Baddeley’s research showed.
What is the LTM?
A store of memories that can be accessed and recited at any given moment.
Capacity of LTM -
potentially unlimited
Duration of LTM -
unlimited
Coding of LTM -
Mainly semantic as Baddeley’s research shows.
Strength of the MSM -
Supported by case studies of amnesiacs - HM
HM underwent brain surgery to treat severe epilepsy. The surgeons removed his temporal lobe and hippocampus (both play a key part in memory)
Following surgery he couldn’t form new long term memories.
However his STM, and early childhood memories stayed intact.
This suggests that LT and ST memories are in seperate stores. As the MSM suggests.
Weakness of the MSM -
Accused of being oversimplified.
The working memory model has found evidence that the STM does not operate in one single store. Instead it is comprised of many different components.
It also seems unlikely that LTM operates as one store. Indeed, there is evidence that episodic memories, procedural memories and semantic memories are consolidates and stored in different areas of the brain.