Memory Model Summary (Psychology)

SUMMARY (ALL MEMORY) Favorites Notebook Psychology - memory p1 Last edited time @October 1, 2024 10:17 PM Archive Created time @September 21, 2024 6:46 PM MSM (summary) Multi-Store Mem...

SUMMARY (ALL MEMORY) Favorites Notebook Psychology - memory p1 Last edited time @October 1, 2024 10:17 PM Archive Created time @September 21, 2024 6:46 PM MSM (summary) Multi-Store Memory Model (MSM) Developed by: Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) Structure: Describes how information flows through three memory stores: 1. Sensory Register 2. Short-Term Memory (STM) 3. Long-Term Memory (LTM) 1. Sensory Register: Processing: Automatic, not consciously controlled. Coding: Specific to senses (e.g., visual = iconic, auditory = echoic). Capacity: Very large, but only attended info moves to STM. Duration: Very brief. 2. Short-Term Memory (STM): Function: Receives info from Sensory Register via attention. SUMMARY (ALL MEMORY) 1  Transfer to LTM: Achieved through rehearsal (either maintenance or elaborative). Coding: Acoustically (based on sound). Capacity: About 7 items (± 2); can be enhanced through chunking. Duration: Lasts 18–30 seconds; can be extended with verbal rehearsal. Loss of Information: Occurs through displacement (new info) or decay (time). 3. Long-Term Memory (LTM): Function: Stores information potentially permanently. Retrieval: Info is transferred back to STM for use. Coding: Semantic (based on meaning). Capacity & Duration: Unlimited. Key Takeaway: The MSM illustrates how memory works by showing the transitions between sensory, short-term, and long-term memory, influenced by attention, rehearsal, and retrieval. Evidence for Separate STM and LTM: Glazner & Cunitz (1966): Demonstrated primacy effect (recalling early words from LTM) and recency effect (recalling recent words from STM), indicating that STM and LTM are distinct stores. Short-Term Memory (STM): Coding: Baddeley (1966): Showed participants struggled with acoustically similar words, suggesting STM encodes information acoustically. Capacity: SUMMARY (ALL MEMORY) 2  Jacobs (1887): Identified STM capacity as 7 ± 2 items for letters and numbers, indicating a limited capacity. Duration: Peterson & Peterson (1959): Found participants recalled less than 10% after 18 seconds without rehearsal, indicating STM duration is 18–30 seconds. Long-Term Memory (LTM): Coding: Baddeley (1966): Found recall of semantically similar words was hardest after 20 minutes, indicating LTM encodes information semantically (by meaning). Capacity: Wagenaar (1986): His recall of over 2400 diary events indicated that LTM capacity is very large and possibly limitless. Duration: Bahrick (1975): Participants showed high recall of names and faces even 48 years later, suggesting LTM's duration is vast and potentially unlimited. Evaluations of MSM 1. Artificiality of Cognitive Experiments: Memory experiments often occur in artificial lab settings, resulting in low ecological validity and limiting generalizability to real-life situations. Counterpoint: Controlled lab environments may be essential for accurate memory measurement, providing valuable insights. 2. Indirect Observation: Memory models are based on inferences from observed behaviour, which may lack validity since memory cannot be directly observed. SUMMARY (ALL MEMORY) 3  Counterpoint: The structure of the sensory register supports evolutionary theory, suggesting we gather extensive sensory information but process only what's important. SUMMARY (ALL MEMORY) 4