Multi-Store Model of Memory

• SENSORY MEMORY

  Capacity - unlimited: every cell in the eye can store data, giving high capacity.
• SENSORY MEMORY

  Duration - less than half a second: roughly between 250-500 milliseconds.
• SENSORY MEMORY

  Modality Specific - information is stored in memory in its original form. There is a register for each:

  Iconic ➡️ visual

  Haptic ➡️ touch

  Echoic ➡️ sound

  Olfactory ➡️ smell

  Gustatory ➡️ taste
• SHORT TERM MEMORY

  Capacity - 5-9 items. Can be increased by chunking items together to reduce the number of separate items overall.
• SHORT TERM MEMORY

  Duration - 18-30 seconds. Can be extended by verbal rehearsal, the information can be maintained in the rehearsal loop.
• SHORT TERM MEMORY

  Coding - acoustic: sound based, if the material sounds the same it can be confused if tried to recall immediately.
• LONG TERM MEMORY

  Capacity - Unlimited: we may think we have forgotten information, however it may be in the LTM just not accessible.
• LONG TERM MEMORY

  Duration - from a few minutes to a lifetime.
• LONG TERM MEMORY

  Coding - Semantic: based on the meaning of the material. Material with the same meaning can be confused.
• STRENGTHS

  * supporting research - Milner (1966) reports in HM who lost hippocampus in surgery to relieve symptoms of epilepsy. He then had a damaged LTM, couldn’t form memories, but STM was working for current tasks. Supports MSM as it demonstrates there are two separate stores.

  * Supporting research - Squire et al (1993) brain scans found that hippocampus was more active in LTM tasks and prefrontal cortex was more active in STM tasks. This supports MSM as it shows that LTM and STM are two separate stores that can work independently.
• LIMITATIONS

  • Conflicting theory - Shallice and Warrington (1970) studied KF with amnesia, his recall was better when he read himself rather than being read aloud to. Questions MSM as MSM says STM is one store, various research shows that LTM isn’t just one store, showing it isn’t a complete theory.
  • Conflicting research - Brown and Kulik (1977) says reversal isn’t always necessary, if the memory is highly emotional it will go straight to the LTM which is called a flashbulb memory, contradicts MSM which says info must be rehearsed.
  • Too simplistic - Craik and Watkins (1973)