2.1.2 - Multistore Model Memory

Who created MSM?

Atinkson and Shiffrin

What are the three stores?

• Sensory Memory

• Short Term Memory

• Long Term Memory

Explain the Sensory Memory?

• Receives info from senses

• Very large capacity

• Short duration less than 1 second

• With attention moves to STM

Explain Short Term Memory?

• Info for immediate use

• Limited capacity ( around 7+- 2 items - Miller)

• Short Duration 18-30 seconds

• Acoustic

• Info lost through decay

• Can move to LTM through rehearsal

Explain Long Term Memory?

• Stores info for long periods

• Unlimited capacity

• Encoding is semantic

• Through retrieval can go to the STM

Evaluation: List the strengths?

Supports the idea that memory stores are distinct

• HM cold form new procedural memories but not episodic memories that LTM is a single store

List the weaknesses?

Oversimplifies rehearsal:

• Some info can enter LTM without rehearsal while some well rehearsed info is forgotten

LTM and STM are not unitary stores

• They are more complex

• WMM shows STM has multiple components

• HM shows different types of LTM

MODEL COMPARISON QUESTION 6 MARKER

The Multi-Store Model proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin suggests that memory is made up of three separate stores: sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory, and that information passes between these stores through rehearsal. In contrast, the Working Memory Model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch focuses on short-term memory and argues that it is not a single store but is divided into several components.

The MSM views short-term memory as a passive store, whereas the WMM describes it as an active system that processes information. For example, the WMM includes the phonological loop for verbal information and the visuo-spatial sketchpad for visual information, which allows it to explain dual-task performance.

Overall, while the MSM provides a simple explanation of memory structure, the WMM offers a more detailed and realistic account of how short-term memory operates.