Multi-store model of memory (Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968)

page 6-7

storage

retention of information within stores of memory

retrieval

movement of info from long-term store to concious awareness

encoding

form in which information is stored

decay

fading of memory over time

capacity

max amount of info able to be stored at a given time

duration

length of time info can be stored for

what is the multi-store model of memory and its features

Atkinson and Shiffrin theorised information flows through 3 storage systems (the 3 working components of memory) which are sensory register, short-term memory, and long term memory. they are connected to each other through attention, rehersal, and retrieval processes

what are the 3 components of the multistore model of memory?

Sensory register, Short-term memory, and long-term memory

what is the sensory register

where sensory info is briefly held before decaying or transfering to short term store. this is where info first enters. info not attended to decays rapidly. the reception of sensory information here is unconcious and automatic

how is sensory information stored in the sensory register (How Long)

Atkinson and Shiffrin theorised that there were likely seperate stores for each of our senses. they mainly focused on visual and auditory. visual information is held for 0.2-0.4 seconds in the iconic store. auditory information remains in the echoic store 3-4 seconds

what is the short term memory

temporary memory store for limited info recieved from sensory register and long-term store. sensory info attended to transfers to short-term (working memory). a trace of the memory still remains in the sensory register where it then decays. Info in the short term store is mainly encoded acoustically

how many pieces of information can the short term store hold and how quick does decay occur

capacity of 5-9 pieces of information which decays ~15-30 seconds unless unless rehersal and coding processes occur, which either hold the information for longer, or allow for encoding into the long term store.

Long term memory

relatively permanent memory store for a limitless amount of information that sends and recieves info via short term memory

unlimited amount of info can be stored. some decay does occur over time, however the info is mostly permanent

how is information encoded in the long-term store?

mainly encoded semantically (unless the information is meaningful, they will decay over time

what is the difference between encoding and retrieval?

Encoding is the receiving and interpretation of information. Retrieval is the process used to recall stored information.

identify the differences between the sensory register and the long-term memory in terms of duration, capacity, and coding

the sensory register only lasts for a few milliseconds (0.2-0.4 visual, 3-4 auditory), unlimited capacity, and sensory information from the 5 senses is encoded differently (echoic - audio, iconic - visual, olfactory - smell, haptic - tactile, gustatory - taste) encoding is visual and acoustic

information in the long-term memory is relatively permanent (decay theory), the long term has an unlimited capacity, info is encoded semantically,