topic 2 - Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) MSMM Flashcards
what are the different stores of memory?
there is the sensory register, the short term memory and the long term memory
what is the sensory register?
the sensory register is a store that receives all of the sensory information around us and holds it very briefly.
what is the role of attention in the sensory register?
we register a lot of information in the sensory register and if we don’t focus on certain sensory information (attention) it quickly decays.
what are the different senses in the sensory register?
iconic memory, echoic memory, gustatory sensory register, olfactory sensory register and tactile sensory register.
in the stm what is the capacity according to atkinson and shiffrin?
the average short term memory can hold about 5-9 chunks of information.
in the stm what is the duration according to atkinson and shriffin?
15-30 seconds.
what is the role of rehearsal in the MSMM?
The MSMM suggests that if you repeat information over and over it helps hold it in the stm for longer and if it is rehearsed for long enough it gets transferred to ltm store.
in the ltm what is the capacity according to atkinson and shiffrin?
the ltm has a potentially limited capacity
in the ltm what is the duration according to atkinson and shiffrin?
up to a lifetime
what is the strengths of this theory?
there is a lot of evidence to support this theory, cases of amnesia show how brain injury can damage the ltm while the stm stays intact.
what is the weaknesses of this theory?
one weakness is that the MSMM overstates the role of rehearsal as a means of transferring information into the ltm, but we don’t need to repeat ever piece of information over and over in order to remember it for a period time, sometimes we remember things because they are meaningful to us.
another weakness is that it is unlikely that we only have one type of ltm. cases of amnesia patients demonstrate that while some ltm memories are damaged others remain intact.
what is the serial position effect?
the serial position effect is the tendency to recall more words at the beginning and the end. (primary and recency).
Murdock explained that the primary effect occurs because words at the beginning of the list have been rehearsed and transferred into the ltm. The recency effect is the result of words still being held in the stm. Words in the middle of the list were recalled less because there was less time to rehearse them into the ltm before they were displaced from short-term memory.
define iconic memory.
iconic memory is the sensory register for visual information and it lasts for around 1 seconds before decaying
define echoic memory.
echoic memory is the sensory register for auditory information and it lasts for a few seconds.
define modality free and how does it relate to the msmm?
modality free means that it is not linked to a specific type of sensory information. it relates to the msmm because the stm is described as modality free meaning that we can store different types of sensory information.
