MSM of memory

• what are the main components of the MSM of memory?

  sensory register, STM & LTM.
• what are the features of each store?

  coding, capacity and duration.
• what are the stages of information processing?

  1. input
  2. encoding
  3. storage
  4. retrieval
  5. output
• msm facts:

  • most well-known theory of how memory works.
  • based on work of atkinson and shiffrin (1968).
  • main idea is that the human memory system is made up of a no. separate and distinct stores.
• draw the MSM:

  diagram-

  
• how is info encoded?

  from inputs from the environment.
• what does the sensory memory store do?

  • the store where all immediate info is briefly held, unless paid attention to.
• what does the short-term memory store do?

  • the store w/ limited capacity & duration, info becomes conscious.
• what does the long-term memory store do?

  • unlimited capacity & duration, info is permanently stored.
• in order for info to transfer from STM to LTM what must happen?

  info must be rehearsed (maintenance rehearsal).
• what is duration?

  the length of time the memory store holds info.
• what is encoding?

  transforming incoming info into a form that can be stored in memory.
• what is capacity?

  the maximum amount of info that can be retained in memory.
• what is retrieval?

  the act of getting info out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness.
• sensory store-

  capacity: all sensory experiences.

  • sperling (1960)- concluded that a large amount of sensory info could be stored in sensory memory.

  duration: if no attention is paid, duration is in milliseconds- 1/2 second = visual, 4 seconds = auditory.

  
  

  coding: the form in which info is recieved (through the 5 senses, e.g. taste)

  
  

  if we don't pay attention here, info simply decays.
• short-term memory-

  capacity: can be assessed using digit span.

  • jacobs used this to assess STM capacity and found the span for digits was 9.3 items and 7.3 letters.
  • miller (1956)- found that p's could recall 7+/-2 items in STM.
  • could be increased when chunking is used.

  duration: 18-30 seconds (peterson & peterson).

  coding: acoustic, mainly phonological (i.e. auditory/sound-based).

  
  

  info will not be held long here, it either decays/becomes displaced.
• what is chunking?

  grouping separate items into lots of chunks.
• long-term memory-

  capacity: unlimited

  duration: unlimited (bahrick et al.)

  coding: mainly semantic = based on meaning.

  info is always here, but sometimes we need cues to help us retrieve info.