Multi-store model

Atkinson and shifting (1968)

The MSM used to describe the basic architecture of the memory system. Relates to the principle that human beings are information processors.

	Sensory memory	Short-term memory	Long-term memory
Encoding	according to the sense	coded acoustically	semantically
Capacity	very high	7 +/-2. Limited capacity	unlimited
Duration	less than ½ a second	Around 30 secs. Limited duration	Can last for many years

Strengths	Weaknesses
Testable: this model is testable as the different components of the MSM are clearly defined e.g. STM capacity is easily tested and therefore has strong empirical support. Application: the model can be applied in educational settings to teach students about successful revision techniques e.g. elaborative rehearsal linked to successful revision due to memories moving from STM and LTM.	This model is reductionist: there is evidence that both STM and LTM have separate stores e.g. we can complete two tasks at once if they are different types of tasks e.g. colouring and talking to someone. This cannot be explained if we only had one STM store as we couldn’t do only one at a time.