Evaluation

• P - Cognitive experiments testing MSM are often highly artificial , lacking external and ecological validity as well as mundane realism

  D - Artificial nature of design of experimental studies may be only way of clearly measuring memory and testing its limits. Approach may ultimately uncover the underlying internal mental structure of memory
• P - Large capacity and short duration of the sensory register matches what would be expected from evolutionary theory , that as much information as possible is gathered from the environment , but only important information is processed

  D - Correlation with the theory cannot prove that this is the reason for the sensory register to be this way. Correlations do not prove causation. Causation would be needed for the MSM to fully gain the validity from this
• P - Later research demonstrated neither short term memory or long term memory are unitary stores

  • Multiple types of long term memory - Tulving - episodic semantic and procedural

  D - Further invalidate the MSM , Clive Wearing shows that the long term memory is not unitary either due to his ability to play the piano well without remembering that he could