Multi store model of memory - SR

Sensory register

takes information from one of the sense organs and holds it in that same form, it is under automatic control

things you see stored as images

iconic memory

things you hear stored as sounds

echoic memory

things you touch stored as feelings

haptic memory

things you've tasted

gustatory memory

things you've smelt

olfactory memory

Duration of SR

fractions of a second after physical stimulus is no longer available (limited)

Capacity of SR

all sensory information, unprocessed, highly detailed (huge capacity)

Coding of SR

sense specific

Crowder (1993) study

measured duration and encoding

Crowder (1993) results

found that the SR only retains information in the iconic store for a few milliseconds, but for 2-3 secs within the echoic store

Crowder (1993) conclusion

sensory information is coded for in different stores and sensory stores have different durations

Sperling (1960) procedure

presented a grid of letters for less than a second

Sperling (1960) results

pps recalled 4 letters on average however the iconic store can hold 10 items, information decays within 2 seconds before we can recall them all

Walsh and Thompson (1978) study

measured duration of SR

Walsh and Thompson (1978) results

found that the iconic sensory store has an average duration of 500 milliseconds which decreases as individuals get older

Walsh and Thompson (1978) conclusion

duration is limited and age dependent