the multi-store model of memory

Question 1

msm

Answer 1

a representation of how memory works in terms of three stores called the sensory register, STM, LTM. it also describes how information is transferred from one store to another, what makes some memories last and what makes memories disappear.

Question 2

atkinson and shiffrin (1968, 1971)

Answer 2

proposed msm which describes how information flows through the memory system.

Question 3

msm

Answer 3

1. stimulus from the environment
2. sensory register - iconic, echoic, other sensory stores
   ATTENTION
3. STM
   PROLONGED REHEARSAL
4. LTM
   MAINTENANCE REHEARSAL OR RETRIEVAL (back into STM)

Question 4

sensory register

Answer 4

all stimuli from the environment passes into the sensory register. this part of memory comprises several registers (sensory memory stores), one for each of our 5 senses.
coding in each store is modality-specific (i.e. depends on the sense)

for example, the store coding for visual information is iconic memory and the store coding acoustically (i.e. for sound) is echoic memory.
there are other sensory stores for touch, taste, smell information.

Question 5

duration of sensory register

Answer 5

less than half a second or 200 milliseconds

Question 6

capacity of sensory register

Answer 6

high

Question 7

coding of sensory register

Answer 7

modality specific

Question 8

maintenance rehearsal

Answer 8

occurs when we repeat (rehearse) material to ourselves over and over again.

we can keep information in our STM as long as we rehearse it. if we rehearse it long enough, it passes into LTM.

Question 9

STM coding

Answer 9

acoustically

Question 10

STM duration

Answer 10

18 seconds

Question 11

STM capacity

Answer 11

STM is a limited-capacity or 7 +/- 2 (capacity of STM is between 5 and 9 items of information - the magical number) because it can only contain a certain number of ‘things’ before forgetting occurs.

cowan’s research suggests it might be more like 5 rather than 9.

Question 12

LTM

Answer 12

this is the potentially permanent memory store for information that has been rehearsed for a prolonged time.

Question 13

LTM coding

Answer 13

semantically (i.e. in terms of meaning)

Question 14

LTM duration

Answer 14

lifetime

e.g. bahrick et al (1975) found that many of their participants were able to recognise the names and faces of their school classmates almost 50 years after graduation. the capacity of LTM is thought to be practically unlimited.

Question 15

according to the MSM…

Answer 15

when we want to recall information from LTM, it has to be transferred back into STM by a process called retrieval.

Question 16

strength - msm

Answer 16

p - research support from studies showing that STM and LTM are different.

e - alan baddeley (1966) found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when we are using our STMs. but we mix up words that have similar meanings when we use our LTMs. further support also comes from the studies of capacity (jacobs 1887) and duration (peterson and peterson 1959)we encountered in the previous spread.

l - these studies clearly show that STM and LTM are separate and independent memory stores, as claimed by the MSM.

Question 17

strength - msm - counterpoint

Answer 17

despite such apparent support, in everyday life we form memories related to all sorts of useful things - peoples faces, their names, facts, places, etc.

but many of the studies that support MSM used none of these materials. instead, they used digits, letters (jacobs), and sometimes words (baddeley). they even used consonant syllables that have no meaning (peterson and peterson).

this means that the MSM may not be a valid of how memory works in our everyday lives where we have to remember much more meaningful information.

Question 18

limitation - msm

Answer 18

p - prolonged rehearsal is not needed to transfer to LTM.

e - according to the MSM, what matters about rehearsal is the amount of it - the more your rehearse something, the more likely it is to transfer to LTM.

e - fergus craik and michael watkins (1973) found that the type of rehearsal is more important than the amount. elaborative rehearsal is needed for LTM storage. this occurs when you link the information to your existing knowledge, or you think about what it means.

l - this means that information can be transferred to LTM without prolonged rehearsal. this suggests that MSM does not fully explain how LTMs is achieved.