The Multi-store model

Multi-store model

• Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968, 1971) describes how information flows through the memory system. It suggests that memory is made up of three stores linked by processing

Sensory register

• All stimuli from the environment pass into this. It comprises several registers, one for each of our five senses. Coding in each store depends on the sense, e.g. the store coding for visual information is iconic memory and the store coding acoustically is echoic memory. Duration of material in this is very brief (less than half a second). It has a very high capacity

• Information passes further into the memory system only if you pay attention to it

Short-term memory

• Information in this coded mainly acoustically and lasts about 18 seconds unless it is rehearsed. It is a limited-capacity store as it can only contain a certain number of 'things' before forgetting occurs. The capacity is between five and nine items of information.

Short-term memory: Maintenance rehearsal

• This occurs when we repeat material to ourselves over and over again. We can keep the information in this store as long as we rehearse it. If we rehearse it long enough, it passes into long-term memory

Long-term memory

• Potentially permanent store for information rehearsed for a prolonged time. Coded mostly semantically. The duration of this may be up to a lifetime, e.g. Bahrick et al (1975) found that many of their participants were able to recognise names and faces of their past school classmates (50 years after graduating). The capacity of this is thought to be unlimited

Retrieval

• According to MSM, when we want to recall information from LTM, it has to be transferred back into STM by this process

Evaluation: Strengths

• Support from studies showing that STM and LTM are different.

• Baddeley (1966) found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when we are using our STMs. But we mix up words that have similar meanings when we use our LTMs

• This shows that STM and LTM are separate and independent memory stores, as claimed by the MSM

Evaluation: Weaknesses

• There is evidence of more than one STM store.

• Shallice and Warrington (1970) studied a client referred to as 'KF' who had a clinical memory disorder (amnesia). KF's STM for digits were very poor when they were read out loud to him. But his recall was much better when he read the digits to himself. Further studies of KF (and others) showed that there could be another STM store for non-verbal sounds

• This evidence suggests that the MSM is wrong in claiming that there is just one STM store processing different types of information

Evaluation: Weaknesses

• Prolonged rehearsal is not needed for transfer to LTM.

• E.g. traumatic events don’t need rehearsal.

• This suggests the MSM does not fully explain how long-term storage is achieved