MEMORY;
The muttl-ttacr made{ afmeroatYlMSMt
Atkinson ond Shiffrin: devised the multi-store model (MSM) of memory. It is o cognitive opprooch thot explains memory os
Information passing through O series of 3 storage systems: the sensory register, then short-term memory, and then
long-term memory.
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Each of these storage systems has different features in terms of.
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Coding: The format the information can be stored as.
Duration: How long the information is stored for.
Copocity. How much information con be stored.
The sensory register:
Information from the senses is stored but only for O duration of half O second before it is forgotten. lnformoti?n i~ rec~ived
rCJol/ and unprocessed, it has a large capacity but the duration is milliseconds unless it is given focused attention 1n which
cose it will move to the STM. Information is coded into different sensory stares.
The Echoic store is far sound
The Iconic store is for vision
The Haptic store is far touch
The Gustatory store is for taste
The Olfact ory store is for smell
Short-term memory.
Rehearsal maintains information in the STM however it can still be forgotten due to decay or being displaced by new
information due to its limited capacity. Has a capacity of 5-9 items and a duration of approximately 30 seconds. Encoding is
mainly acoustic.
Capacity-limited to 5-9 items. Digit span; Jocobs developed a technique to measure digit span, the researcher gives 4
digits and if the P can remember then they go up to 5 and so on. Findings: The capacity for numbers was 9 and far letters
was 7 which suggests that capacity is limited.
Miller: Come up with 'magic number 7 plus or minus 'l he believed that our STM stores 'chunks' of information rather than
individual numbers or letters.
Long-term memory:
Rehearsing information via the rehearsal loop helps retain information in the STM and consolidate it to LTM. This is mostly
encoded semantically (through its meaning), information can be stored and retrieved up ta any duration. It has an unlimited
capacity.
Baddey: found that high school graduates were able to recognise the faces of their classmates 50 years after their
graduation.
EVALUATION:
(+) It is supported by research studies which show that STM and LTM are qualitatively different
(+) Cognitive theorists suggest that the MSM explanation of memory has been highly influential in our understanding of
memory and how it works.
(-) It is too over-simplistic, both STM and LTM ore complex and are more complex than the MSM suggests. For example the
WMM shows how STM consists of many different components rather than just a single stare. Similarly, there ore many
different types of long term memory that ore stored and processed in different ways (e.g. praceduroQ.
(-) Miller's research did not toke into account other factors that affect capacity, age could effect STM_
(+) The evidence supports the idea of short-term memory and long-term memory being separate types of memory and it hos
been verified through the use of PET scans and fMRI scans when participants have been doing separate tasks related ta
short-term memory and long-term.
(-) Tulving criticised the MSM view of LTM as too simplistic and inflexible so he proposed three types of LTM; episodic,
procedural and semantic. Clive Wearing and HM support that LTM is mare complex than MSM proposed.
Tvecs et Paa tecro mcroocx;
The muttl-ttacr made{ afmeroatYlMSMt
Atkinson ond Shiffrin: devised the multi-store model (MSM) of memory. It is o cognitive opprooch thot explains memory os
Information passing through O series of 3 storage systems: the sensory register, then short-term memory, and then
long-term memory.
~1a tn,,.nancr
,-. 11.. ,-1
fl
C n vl i-o n ml!nl • I
•lllmull
,,.n,..,,,
Ill 111 I~ I ",'\1 J
/\t l rlll ln11
.·
... , .. ,u ' ' " '
~.-
nu, 1 t\
'"'"
Rc111 1 tev11 I
l.ftfll&
,u
I
...
fl 1"-11
IHI
Each of these storage systems has different features in terms of.
L. l n f onnatlon
n<tr-lwv.1I
Coding: The format the information can be stored as.
Duration: How long the information is stored for.
Copocity. How much information con be stored.
The sensory register:
Information from the senses is stored but only for O duration of half O second before it is forgotten. lnformoti?n i~ rec~ived
rCJol/ and unprocessed, it has a large capacity but the duration is milliseconds unless it is given focused attention 1n which
cose it will move to the STM. Information is coded into different sensory stares.
The Echoic store is far sound
The Iconic store is for vision
The Haptic store is far touch
The Gustatory store is for taste
The Olfact ory store is for smell
Short-term memory.
Rehearsal maintains information in the STM however it can still be forgotten due to decay or being displaced by new
information due to its limited capacity. Has a capacity of 5-9 items and a duration of approximately 30 seconds. Encoding is
mainly acoustic.
Capacity-limited to 5-9 items. Digit span; Jocobs developed a technique to measure digit span, the researcher gives 4
digits and if the P can remember then they go up to 5 and so on. Findings: The capacity for numbers was 9 and far letters
was 7 which suggests that capacity is limited.
Miller: Come up with 'magic number 7 plus or minus 'l he believed that our STM stores 'chunks' of information rather than
individual numbers or letters.
Long-term memory:
Rehearsing information via the rehearsal loop helps retain information in the STM and consolidate it to LTM. This is mostly
encoded semantically (through its meaning), information can be stored and retrieved up ta any duration. It has an unlimited
capacity.
Baddey: found that high school graduates were able to recognise the faces of their classmates 50 years after their
graduation.
EVALUATION:
(+) It is supported by research studies which show that STM and LTM are qualitatively different
(+) Cognitive theorists suggest that the MSM explanation of memory has been highly influential in our understanding of
memory and how it works.
(-) It is too over-simplistic, both STM and LTM ore complex and are more complex than the MSM suggests. For example the
WMM shows how STM consists of many different components rather than just a single stare. Similarly, there ore many
different types of long term memory that ore stored and processed in different ways (e.g. praceduroQ.
(-) Miller's research did not toke into account other factors that affect capacity, age could effect STM_
(+) The evidence supports the idea of short-term memory and long-term memory being separate types of memory and it hos
been verified through the use of PET scans and fMRI scans when participants have been doing separate tasks related ta
short-term memory and long-term.
(-) Tulving criticised the MSM view of LTM as too simplistic and inflexible so he proposed three types of LTM; episodic,
procedural and semantic. Clive Wearing and HM support that LTM is mare complex than MSM proposed.
Tvecs et Paa tecro mcroocx;
