Memory - multi store model of memory

• who came up with the MSM?


  Atkinson and Shiffrin
• when did atkinson and Shiffrin come up with the MSM? 1968 and 1971
• what does the MSM describe? how information flows through the memory system
• how many stores is memory made up of?


  3
• what are the three stores of memory? sensory register, short term memory, long term memory
• what happens in the sensory register? all stimuli from the environment pass into the sensory register
• what does the sensory register comprise of? several registers, one for each of our five senses
• what is coding like in the sensory register? modality specific (depends on the sense)

  e.g the store coding for visual info is iconic memory and the store coding acoustically is echoic memory
• what is the duration of the sensory register? very brief, less than half a second
• what is the capacity of the sensory register? very high capacity e.g over one hundred million cells in one eye, each storing data
• how is information coded in the short term memory? acoustically
• what is STMs duration? 18 seconds unless its rehearsed, so it's more of a temporary store
• why is STM a limited capacity store? It can only contain a certain number of 'things' before forgetting occurs.
• what is the capacity of STM?


  7 +/- 2
• what does cowans research suggest that the capacity of STM is? 5 items
• when does maintenance rehearsal occur? when we repeat material to ourselves over and over again and if we rehearse it for long enough it passes into our LTM
• what is the long term memory store? stores information permanently
• how is LTM coded?


  semantically
• what is LTMs duration?


  up to a lifetime
• what did bahrick find? pps were able to recognise the names and faces of their school classmates 50 years after graduating
• what is the capacity of LTM?


  unlimited
• according to MSM, what happens when we want to recall info from LTM? it has to be transferred back into STM by retrieval
• what is a strength of the MSM? P - studies show STM and LTM are different

  E - Baddeley 1966 found we mix up words that sound similar when using STMs but we mix up words with similar meanings when we use LTMs

  - there is further support from studies of capacity and duration in the previous page

  T - studies show STM and LTM are separate as claimed by MSM
• counterpoint to the strength of MSM: - we form memories in everyday life related to useful things (names, faces) but studies that support MSM use digits, letters (jacobs), words (baddeley) and consonant syllables (p + p)

  T - MSM may not be a valid model of memory in everyday lives
• limitation of MSM - more than one STM store: P - evidence of more than one STM store

  E - shallice + warrington 1970 studied KF (had amnesia) who's STM for digits was poor when read to him but better when he read them himself

  further studies show that there could be another short term store for non verbal sounds (noises)

  T - MSM is wrong in claiming there is one STM store processing different types of info
• limitation of MSM - elaborate rehearsal: P - prolonged rehearsal is not needed for transfer to LTM

  E - MSM says that what matters about rehearsal is the amount of it - will transfer to LTM (prolonged rehearsal)

  Craik and Watkins 1973 found type of rehearsal is more important

  Elaborative rehearsal is needed for LT storage (linking info to existing knowledge)

  Info can be transferred to LTM without prolonged rehearsal