MSM of memory Flashcards
(9 cards)
sensory register for MSM
receives stimulus from the environment- ionic and echoic coding. duration is brief and capacity is large
STM for MSM
limited capacity and duration. coded acoustically. enough maintenance rehearsal= goes to LTM
LTM for MSM
permanent memory store. unlimited capacity and duration- coded semantically. for recall, info must be transferred back to STM via retrieval
strength- primacy effect
primacy effect- people tend to remember the first few items in a list better than those in the middle. This happens because the first items are rehearsed more and transferred into LTM. This supports the idea that LTM is a separate memory store with unlimited capacity and long duration.
strength- recency effect
recency effect- people tend to remember the last few items in a list better than those in the middle. This suggests these items are still in STM, supporting its limited capacity (around 7 items) and the idea of displacement when new information enters. This supports the idea that STM is a separate memory store with distinct features, such as limited capacity and short duration.
strength- Milner- HM study
HM had epilepsy= hippocampus removed. this reduced seizures but caused memory loss- could form short term but not long term memories. this supports separate memory stores
weakness- lacks ecological validity
low ecological validity as it assumes information is transferred to LTM only through rehearsal. In reality, people often remember things without consciously rehearsing them, yet the model overlooks this. This suggests rehearsal isn’t always needed, making the model less representative of how memory works in everyday situations.
weakness- oversimplified model
oversimplified- assumes there is only 1 short-term and 1 long-term memory store. This has been disproved by studies of brain damaged patients, such as KF, who had impaired STM but intact LTM, = stores are more complex and separate than the model suggests. This challenges the validity of the model, as it fails to account for different types of memory within each store.
case study evidence- Digit Span Test- Jacobs
The digit span test measures STM capacity by asking participants to recall sequences of digits in the correct order. The number of digits increases each time until the participant can no longer recall them accurately. Jacobs found the average digit span to be 9.3 for numbers and 7.3 for letters, suggesting STM has a limited capacity of about 7±2 items.
