MSM and WMM☑️

the multi store model of memory (MSM)

reserachers, use and components

-developed by richard atkinson and richard shiffrins (1968, 1971)

-used to describe how information flows through the memory system. the model suggests memory is made up of three stores linked by processing.

-used as a representation of how memory works in terms of three stores by describing how information is transferred from one store to another (how memory flows through the memory system), what makes memories last and what makes memories disappear.

components

• sensory register

• short term memory

• long term memory

MSM

sensory register (SR)

all stimuli from the environment pass into the SR, which comprises several registers (sensory memory stores), one for each sense. eg iconic memory (visual information) and echoic memory (sound)

-SR duration: very brief, less than a second

-capacity: very high

-information will pass further into the memory system only if u pay attention to it.

MSM

short term memory

-coded mainly acoustically and lasts about 18s - unless rehearsed, so its mainly a temporary store.

-limited capacity store as it can only contain a certain number of things before forgetting occurs.

-maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat material to ourselves over and over. we can keep the information in our STMs as long as we rehearse it, and if it’s done for long enough, it passes into LTM.

MSM

long term memory

-potentially permanent memory store for information that has been rehearsed in prolonged time. coded semantically

-duration: believed by psychologists to be forever, supported by bahrick et al.

-according to MSM, when we want to recall information from LTM, it has to be transferred bac to STM for retrieval

MSM

evaluation: strengths

-support from other studies showing STM and LTM are different (alan bladdeleys research, showing LTM and STM are separate and independent memory stores)

MSM

evaluation: limitations

-evidence of multiple STM stores: tim shallice and elizabeth warrington (1970) studied KF (patient with amnesia) who’s STM for digits was very poor when read aloud to him but was significantly better when he read them himself; suggesting MSM is wrong when claiming there is just one STM store processing different types of information.

-prolonged rehearsal isn’t needed for transfer to LTM (repeating something until it’s transferred into the LTM) but fergus craik and michael watkins (1973) found the type of rehearsal is more important than the amount. elaborate rehearsal is required for LTM (where u link the information to your existing knowledge) suggesting MSM doesn’t fully explain how long term storage is achieved.

the working memory model (WMM)

-suggested by baddeley and hitch (1974) as an explanation of how one aspect of memory (STM) is organised and how it functions. the WMM is concerned with the mental space that is active when we are temporarily storing and manipulating information (eg solving math problems).

model consists of 4 main components:

• central executive (CE)

• phonological loop (PL)

• visuo-spatial sketch pad (VSS)

• episodic buffer (EB)

WMM

central executive (CE)

-supervisory role; it monitors incoming data, focuses and divides our limited attention and allocated subsystems to tasks.

-limited processing capacity and does not store information

phonological loop

-WMM subsystem; dealing with auditory (acoustic) information and preserves the order in which the information arrives

• phonological store: stores words you hear

• articulatory process: allows maintenance rehearsal, the capacity of this loop is believed to be 2 seconds worth of what you can say

visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS)

-2nd subsystem: stores visual and/or spatial information when required (visualise how much cupboards are in your kitchen)

-limited capacity, about 3-4s according to baddeley

-robert logie (1995) subdivided VSS into:

• visual cache, stored visual data

• inner scribe, records arrangement of objects in the visual field

episodic buffer (EB)

-3rd subsystem: temporary store for information, integrating the visual, spatial and verbal information processed by other stores and maintaining a sense of time sequence (recording events(episodes)that are happening) - can be seen as the storage component of the central executive and has a limited capacity of 4 chunks

-greater link to LTM and wider cognitive processes, like perception

WMM

evaluation: strengths

-support from tim shallice and elizabeth warrington (1970) case study KF, who after his brain injury, had poor STM ability for auditory information but could process visual information normally (his immediate recall of letters and digits was better when he read them (visual) than when they were read to him (acoustic) as his phonological loop was damaged but his visio-spatial sketchpad was intact), supports existence of seperste visual and acoustic memory stores.

-dual task performance; when baddeley et al (1975) participants carrried out a visual and verbal task simultaneously, their performance performance was similar to when carried out alone but when they were asked to do both visual (or both verbal), performance declined substantially, showing their must be a separate subsystem (the VSS) that processes visual input (the PL)

WMM evaluation: limitations

-lack of clarity over the nature of the central executive. bladdely (2003) recognised when he said that it’s the ‘most important but the least understood’. the CE needs to be more clearly specified than just being attention; meaning CE is unsatisfactory component and challenges the integrity of the WMM