MSMM - Evaluation

Question 1

supporting research evidence ?

Answer 1

• a strength is that the MSM is supported by research studies that show that STM and LTM are qualitatively different.
• Baddeley (1966a,b) found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when we are using our STM. but we mix up words that have a similar meaning when we use our LTM. so encoding in the STM is acoustic, but in the LTM it is semantic.

Question 2

competing argument to the supporting research ?

Answer 2

not all psychologists accept that the STM and LTM are separate stores. it is often more difficult than suggested by the MSM to identify in everyday life where one store ends and the other begins. some researchers believe that the STM and LTM are ‘integrated’ (such as campitelli)

Question 3

what is a weakness of the MSM ?

Answer 3

• the MSM states that there is only one type of STM store, but evidence from a clinical condition called amnesia shows that this cannot be true.
• Shallice and Warrington studied a patient called ‘KF’ who developed amnesia from a brain injury. he could recall words and digits normally when he read them from a piece of paper but struggled when they were read to him. the conclusion was that his phonological loop was damaged but the visuo-sketchpad wasn’t, supporting the theory that there are multiple subdivisions to the STM.

Question 4

application of the MSM ?

Answer 4

• the MSM has been applied to ways of improving memory.
• research has shown that the STM has a capacity of 5-9 things at a time. the method of ‘chunking’ has been developed to increase capacity. for example, ‘TOGETHER’ can be chunked into ‘TO’ ‘GET’ ‘HER’, so instead of having to remember 8 separate things, you only have to remember 3.