Multistore model - Atkinson and Shiffrin

what is the multistore model

how info flows through memory system in 3 stores, sensory register, stm, ltm

sensory register

detects stimuli from environment, duration in sr is brief (less than half second), high capacity (over hundred million cells in eyes), attention is key process otherwise info wont pass further into the memory system

stm

info coded mainly acoustically and lasts about 18 seconds unless rehearsed, temporary, limited capacity store - between 5 and 9 items, maintenance rehearsal allows to keep info in STM and eventually pass into LTM

ltm

permanent memory store for info rehearsed for prolonged time, coded mainly semantically, capacity thought to be unlimited, when we want to recall info from LTM, it has to be transferred to STM by retrieval

strength of multistore model

Research support from Baddeley showing STM and LTM are different - found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when using STM and mix up words that have similar meanings when using LTM

limitations of multistore model

oversimplifies memory - more than 1 STM store (KF study), limited applicability and generalisability (small sample sizes), lacks temporal validity (based on research evidence available at time)