I was 16 and studying for my big exams. I sat down at my desk and read a brochure my mum gave me. The first line said, “Turn off your music. Stop kidding yourself, you don’t study any better with it on!” I did and it helped. But were they right? As always in psychology, we have to ask ourselves …

Want to improve your memory? The secret is to understand your working memory. In this post, we’ll review some factors that can reduce memory and then explain these using Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model. The Articulatory Suppression Effect The articulatory suppression effect happens when memory decreases because researchers block (suppress) someone’s ability to rehearse (articulate) information they’re trying to remember.  …

It’s in all the textbooks and every introduction to psychology course, but here are some things you didn’t know about Atkinson and Shiffrin’s multi-store model of memory.  #1. There’s a store within the store The short-term store is where we temporarily hold information in our working memory. If it’s rehearsed enough it will transfer to the long-term store. But did …

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s MSM is over 50 years old yet it’s still in every introduction to Psychology textbook and still influences modern psychologists. But it’s not without its critics. This post will examine some of their critiques. Because the MSM was so popular, it received a lot of criticism. But “…criticism could itself be viewed as a success, given the …

50 years later and Atkinson and Shiffrin’s multi-store model of memory (aka the modal model) is still relevant today. This post summarizes the model in more detail than most introductory Psychology textbooks, which will give you the chance to distinguish your explanations from the rest.  Background The multi-store model of memory (the MSM) is a product of the cognitive revolution …