Describe and evaluate the MSM of memory.
Memory being fundamental to our lives have got the multi-store approach to it .The multi-store approach to memory is concerned with identifying different memory stores .This is supported by Atkinson and Shiffrin [1968] who proposed an influential multi-store model which is going to be described in the following essay .However the multi-store model of memory have got some strength and weaknesses which are also going to be reviewed in the essay.
The multi-store model of memory suggests that there are three types of information stores which consist of sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. The multi-store model of memory show how information flows through the two stores of short-term memory and long-term memory as being proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968).
Information is stored for a fraction of a second at the sensory organs in a sensory memory. The capacity of the sensory memory is thought to be very large. Sensory memory is difficult to measure its entire capacity before the information has faded. This shows that the sensory memory last less than a second as most of the material in it will have been forgotten before reported. This is supported by Sperling (1960) who studied the sensory memory for vision by using a tachistoscope.
The information that is attended then selected in the sensory memory is then passed into short-term memory. Short-term memory is the information we are currently aware of or we are thinking about. Short-term memory is very brief and limited hence it holds few items and last few seconds.
Short-term memory being brief and limited is said to last from 0-18 seconds. However, Peterson and Peterson (1959) have demonstrated that short-term memory last between 15-30 seconds. It is said that when people rehearse the material it will last a bit longer.
Short-term memory has a limited storage capacity. This is supported by many researchers in the area of memory including Miller (1956) who investigated the limited capacity experiment. Miller refers it as, “The magical number seven, plus or minus two,” meaning that the short-term memory can only retain 7+ or -2 of the chunks.
Memory after rehearsed in a short-term memory, it is then transferred to long-term memory. Long-term memory provides the lasting retention of information and skills from minutes to life time. The capacity of long-term memory is believed to be unlimited. This is supported by Wagenaar (1986) who kept a diary of 2400 events over six years and tested himself on the recall of the events. He found he had excellent recall, suggesting that the capacity is very large.
Multi-store model of memory is valid and influential as it has many researchers like Glaze and Sperling into memory. The model is supported by Artkinson and Shiffrin (1968) who devoted much research to identify the properties of sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory.