multi store model

• ao1

  the multistore model of memory was developed by Atkinson and shiffrin (1968) to explain how memory's are stored. The sensory register the sensory stimuli from the environment are gathered and stored. The sensory register has unlimited capacity due to large amount of information the senses receive on a daily basis but has a limited duration (milieseconds) most of this information recieves no attention and doesnt enter into the short term memory. the STM has limited capacity 5-7 items and information will decay from here if it doesn't go into LTM or if not rehearsed
• paragraph 2

  It goes to maintanace rehearsal which involves repeating information that people are trying to remember over an over again and doing this allows the information to be transfered into LTM. LTM has both an unlimited capacity and duration information here can be accessed by the STM for use by means of a process called retrival
• strengths: evidence to support

  psychologists have shown that different areas of the brain are involved in the study of STM/LTM from their studies of individuals with brain damage for example patient HM (Scoville and miller)his brain damage was due to an operation to remove his hippocampus to reduce his epilepsy. His personality and intelect remained the same but he could no longer form new LTM

  k- therefore supports the MSM theory of separate stores as HM was unable to transfer information from his STM to his LTM but was able to retrieve information from before his surgery ie) from his LTM
• strength qualitative diferences

  MSM acknowledges the qualitative differences between STM and LTM by representing them as separate stores. For example STM is coded acoustically whilst LTM is encoded semantically and has a much longer duration

  k-therefore the has an accurate view between the two types of memory as supported by Baddeley and miller
• weakness: too simple

  the MSM sees LTM and STM as single unitary store for example Shallice and Warrington found that patient KF had poor stm recall for auditory stimuli but increasing accurate recall for visual stimuli. Therefore because KF is able to distinguish between verbal and non verbal sounds suggests that there may be multiple types of STM
• weakness: mainatanace rehearsal

  The MSM suggests that the amount of maintanace rehearsal determines the chance that information would pass to LTM whereas Craik and Watkins suggests that its the type of rehearsal thats important. They suggests that elaborate rehearsal instead of prolonged rehearsal is needed to transfer information from the STM into the LTM by making links with the existing knowledge