MSM

• Atkinson and Shiffrin - multi store model

  An explanation of memory that sees information as flowing through a series of storage systems.

  It is a linear model of memory where information moves in a straight line from the sensory register to a unitary store for STM and then another unitary store for LTM.
• MSM


  Diagram showing MSM

  
• Sensory Register - MSM

  • acts as a short duration store holding impressions received by the senses
  • acts as a filter for information in the environment that changes our perception
  • when we give attention to this it is processed furher
  • approx 5% further processed in STM
• STM - MSM


  • it is unitary (single store)
  • STM contains the information that is currently being thought about
  • Miller showed STM to have a limited capacity of 7 items (5-9 items)
  • STM also has a limited duration of around 18-30 seconds
  • Baddeley suggested that STM had a preference for acoustic coding
  • information can be held in STM longer through rehearsal
  • sufficient rehearsal will transfer it to the LTM
• LTM- MSM


  • a single store LTM (unitary)
  • has unlimited capacity and information can last between a few minutes to a lifetime
  • Baddeley showed a preference for semantic coding

  MSM also has a retrieval arrow for memories to be brought back to STM from the LTM
• A03 - MSM

  • S - supporting evidence
  • The models idea of unitary stores for STM and LTM is supported by lab experiements. For example, Glanzer and Cunitz's research into the primary and recency tendency to recall words that are at the beginning and end of the list is much better than the recall of words in the middle.
  • The primary effect supports the idea of a LTM because we have rehearsed the information and it has been transferred into the LTM to be later recalled
  • The recency effect supports the idea of STM because information is still fresh
• A03 - MSM

  • S- supporting evidence
  • Case studies into brain damaged patients support the idea of two main types of memory
  • For example Clive Wearing had damage to both STM and LTM and he cannot make new memories and trasnfer them to either
• A03 - MSM

  • L - limitations
  • experiments into the primary & recency tend to use lists of random words that have little relevance to how you would recall in real life and therefore lack mundane realism
  • case study evidence is specific and unique, and therefore not generalisable to the wider population
  • BUT a strength of lab experiments is that they are scientific and controlled, which means they have high reliability and the research around primary and recency has proved to be consistent.
• A03 - MSM

  • A - alternative explanations
  • Another limitation of the MSM is that it overemphasises the role of rehearsal for transferring information into long-term memory. The Levels of Processing theory, proposed by Craik and Lockhart, suggests that memory retention is more about the depth of processing rather than simple rehearsal. Craik and Tulving (1975) conducted an experiment where participants were asked to process words at different levels: shallow (e.g., is the word in capital letters?) versus deep (e.g., is the word a type of animal?). They found that words processed semantically were remembered much better than those processed superficially. This challenges the MSM’s emphasis on rehearsal and suggests that deeper, meaningful processing is key to long-term memory, thus reducing the explanatory power of the multi-store model.
• A03 - MSM

  • V- value
  • the MSM has made a valuable contribution to psychology
  • it is a very neat explanation of memory and can be used to remember information through rote rehearsal such as phone numbers or times tables
• A03 - MSM


  • likely that not all memories transfer through rehearsal such as nasty smells or shocking experiences
  • the MSM is too simplistic in that it believes that we have a unitary STM and LTM - Clive is evdience that there is more LTM stores
  • the working memory model is built upon the MSM and has a more active STM with separate and visual sound systems