Multi-store model of memory Flashcards
Who came up with the MSM?
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
What is the MSM?
Environmental input –> sensory memory –attention->short term memory (recall) (rehearsal loop) –rehearsal->
AO3: Clive Wearing
Contracted anterograde amnesia which left him with ‘moment to moment’ memory.
He cannot transfer from STM to LTM.
Damage to some STM abilities.
This suggests that they are separable stores.
What is anterograde amnesia?
Inability to create new memories.
What is retrograde amnesia?
Forgetting past memories.
Serial position effect/primary-recency effect
Murdoch (1962)
Words at the beginning and the end of a list are best recalled.
Words in the middle tend to get ‘lost’.
AO3: Serial position effect/primary-recency effect
Supports the MSM.
The model can clearly explain why the effect occurs.
It has explanatory power.
Gives the model internal validity as it suggests the use of different memory stores for different parts of the list.
The case of Henry Molaison
HM had brain surgery to relieve his epilepsy.
Crucially, a part of his brain known as the hippocampus was removed from both sides of the brain. (now known to be central to memory function)
Memory was assessed in 1955, but he thought it was 1953, recalled very little of the operation or speaking to someone an hour earlier.
LTM was tested lots but never improved, even with practice.
But he did perform well on tests of immediate memory span, a measure of STM.
AO3: the case of Henry Molaison
Supports the MSM because it suggests that the LTM and STM are different stores as the information is getting lost in the transfer between them as HM performed well on STM tasks but was unable to commit anything to LTM.
This gives internal validity to the model as it seems to be accurate in its description of how STM and LTM are separate.
AO3: the first model of memory
It provides a basis for further research.
A basis for other models to be developed.
AO3: the model is oversimplified and reductionist
MSM states that STM is a unitary store.
Research shows that there is at least one short-term memory to process visual information and another one to process auditory information.
Shallice and Warrington (1970)
Working memory model includes these separate stores.
AO3: the model over-emphasises the role of rehearsal.
MSM says the more you rehearse information, the more likely it will transfer to LTM.
Craik and Watkins (1973) - what really matters is the type of rehearsal.
Maintenance rehearsal is described in MSM - does not actually transfer information to LTM.
Elaborative rehearsal is needed for long-term storage - link to pre-existing knowledge.
Serious limitation because it is another research finding that cannot be explained by the model.
AO3: there is research to support the model
Baddeley - mix up acoustically similar in STM and semantically similar in LTM.
Clearly shows that coding in STM is acoustic and semantic in LTM.
Supports the MSM’s view that these two memory stores are separate and independent.
What are flashbulb memories?
A highly detailed and vivid ‘snapshot’ of the moment you learn surprising or consequential.
AO3: research is done in an artificial lab environment.
It is unlike real-life and therefore lacks ecological validity.
Nonsense tasks do not reflect how people actually use their memories.
Real-life memories are important and have meaning.
Lacks internal validity as it may not be measuring how memory really works.
Weakens the quality of the supporting evidence, limitation.
Difficult to generalise the outcomes of memory research to real-life situations.
