multi store model of memory A01 and A03

Sensory register

Stores 5 senses, it has a large capacity and info lasts a very short time

Coding, capacity and duration of iconic sensory register

Duration → 0.05 seconds

Capacity → really high

Coding → visual

Coding, capacity and duration of Echoic sensory register

Coding → acoustic

Capacity→ very high

Duration → 3 seconds

Coding, capacity and duration of Short term memory

Coding→ acoustic

Capacity→ baddeley 7+/-2 items, disunity 4+/- 1

Duration → 18 seconds unless rehearsed

Coding, capacity and duration of Long term memory

Coding→ semantic

Capacity→ unlimited

Duration→ bahrick et al - up to a lifetime

Features of the MSM

• nomothetic theory

• Structural model

• Passed from store to store in a linear fashion

• STM and LTM are unitary

• Need rehearsal to pass info from STM to LTM

Nomithetic theory

Applied universally to every person in the world

Structural model

Isolate/test each store individually

HM case study

Had bus hippocampus removed with a metal straw, he thought it was two years prior and had very little recall of the operation. He couldn’t form new LTM but could remember skills from day before. This shows that there are different types of LTM and he had procedural memory. Therefore refuting MSM.

CW case study

Had total, anterograde amnesia which means he can’t make new memories. He also had retrograde amnesia meaning he had lost old memories but still remembers certain things e,g. His kids but not their names. This shows separate store.

Strengths on MSM

Support from case study’s show STM and LTM are separate stores

Limitations of MSM

Evidence of more than one STM store, oversimplified view