Paper 1 - Memory

Question 1

Who developed the Multi-Store Model of Memory? (MSM)

Answer 1

Atkinson & Shiffrin

Question 2

What are the main ideas of the MSM?

Answer 2

• Memory is made up of 3 DISCRETE STORES: sensory, short-term and long-term, which can be differentiated based on their capacity, duration, and coding
• ATTENTION AND REHEARSAL are essential processes in the transfer of information from the sensory register to the LTM via the STM
• Transfer of information is SEQUENTIAL and PASSIVE, so material passes through each component with little effort before being stored in LTM
• Information CANNOT pass from LTM to STM when learning new information

Question 3

What is the MSM comprised of?

Answer 3

3 unitary stores
- Sensory memory
- Short-term memory
- Long-term memory

Question 4

How can each memory store be differentiated?

Answer 4

• Capacity
• Duration
• Coding

Question 5

What is capacity?

Answer 5

Amount of information that can be held in the store

Question 6

What is duration?

Answer 6

Length of time the store can hold information

Question 7

What is coding?

Answer 7

Transforming information into a form that can be stored as a memory

Question 8

Describe the sensory register in terms of its capacity, duration, and coding.

Answer 8

CAPACITY
Limited by amount of information that can be physiologically received, but likely very large
DURATION
250 milliseconds
CODING
Multi-modal and modality-specific; different sensory information can be encoded, and info is stored in the same form as it is first registered.

Question 9

How is sensory memory forgotten?

Answer 9

Decay

Question 10

Describe short-term memory in terms of its capacity, duration, and coding.

Answer 10

CAPACITY
7 (+/-2) digits or chunks
DURATION
18-30 seconds without rehearsal
CODING
Acoustic

Question 11

How is short-term memory forgotten?

Answer 11

Displacement and decay

Question 12

Describe long-term memory in terms of its capacity, duration, and coding.

Answer 12

CAPACITY
Unlimited
DURATION
Up to a lifetime
CODING
Semantic

Question 13

How is long-term memory forgotten?

Answer 13

Mostly interference and cue-/context-dependent forgetting

Question 14

What is the sensory register in the MSM?

Answer 14

• There are different sensory registers for