The Multi-Store Model (MSM) Flashcards
MSM
Representation of how memory works in its 3 stores; sensory, STM and LTM
Describes how info = transferred from one store to another, how it’s remembered and forgotten
Sensory register
The memory stores for each of our 5 senses; vision (iconic store) and hearing (echoic store). Coding in the iconic sensory register = VISUAL and in the echoic sensory register = ACOUSTIC
CAPACITY OF SENSORY REG = huge (millions of receptors), info lasts for a very SHORT time (less than 1/2 a second)
Who introduced the MSM
Atkinson and Shiffrin
When did the creators introduce the model
1968 and 1971
How does info get passed through the system from the sensory register
Not much of what goes into the sensory register passes further into the system. Only if you pay ATTENTION to it.
What is the capacity of STM
5-9 items (although research suggest its more likely 5 rather than 9)
How is STM encoded and how long does it last
ACOUSTICALLY - between 18-30 seconds unless rehearsed
What is maintenance rehearsal
When you REPEAT material over and over again. You can keep the info in your STM as long as you rehearse it. If rehearsed long enough - passes through to LTM
What kind of store is the LTM
The PERMANENT store (for info that has been rehearsed for a prolonged time)
What is the capacity of LTM
UNLIMITED - lasts for many years eg: Bahrick’s yearbook study - P’s were able to recognise names/faces of former classmates 48 years after graduating
How is LTM encoded
SEMANTICALLY (in terms of meaning)
What is retrieval
When we want to recall info - it has to be transferred back into STM
What was the individual HM suffering from
Epilepsy
When did HM have his surgery
When he was a child
What part of his brain was removed
His hippocampus from BOTH SIDES of his brain
What were the effects of his brain surgery
His memory = assessed in 1955. HM thought the year was 1953 and that he was 27 y/o (he was 31).
HM had very little recall of operation and he couldn’t remember speaking with someone only an HOUR earlier
What (of his memory) never improved with practice and what were the effects of this
His LTM.
HM read the same magazine repeatedly without remembering it. He couldn’t recall what he had eaten earlier that day
What did HM perform well in
Tests of immediate memory span (a measure of STM)
Evaluation: Artificial tasks (negative)
The model lacks REALISM - cannot be generalised to population and can’t be applied to real life
Evaluation: Oversimplifying LTM (negative)
MSM depicts just one type of LTM and doesn’t give details about the diff types; episodic, procedural, semantic.
Evaluation: Flow (positive)
Shows how memory FLOWS and works with diff stores
Evaluation: Fails to show memory in depth (negative)
Some stores do NOT travel from one store to the other
What is a major strength of MSM
It is supported by RESEARCH that show how STM and LTM are DIFFERENT eg: Baddeley’s study - shows that coding in STM = acoustic and coding in LTM = semantic
Other support: Jacobs, Miller, Peterson&Peterson
What is a weakness of MSM (KF)
MSM states: STM is a UNITARY STORE - however people with AMNESIA disagree
