multi-store model

• Multi-store model of memory - Evaluation

  Limitation -

  • evidence which suggests there is more than one stm store
  • case study of KF who had amnesia - his STM for digits that were read out loud to him was poor (acoustic) but when he read them for himself , his recall was much better (visual).
  • suggesting MSM is wrong in suggesting there is just one STM store
• Multistore Model - Evaluation

  Limitation -

  • prolonged rehearsal is not needed for transfer into LTM
  • researchers found that the type of rehearsal is more important than the amount and elaborative rehearsal is needed (linking info to existing knowledge
  • MSM does not full explain how information transfers to LTM
• Multistore model - evaluation

  strength -

  • support from studies showing LTM and STM are different
  • e.g. Baddeley (1966) and Peterson & Peterson (1956)
  • studies clearly show that LTM and STM are separate stores which supports the MSM

  Counterpoint -

  • studies use artificial material e.g. trigrams which have no meaning
  • in every day life we have to remember useful things like names, facts and places
  • MSM may not be a valid model of how memory works in every day life
• what is the multi store model?

  atkinson and shiffron (1968) proposed one of the earliest models of memory
• what is machine reductionist about the msm?

  feature of the cognitive approach where the brain is described as being similar to a computer - this can be seen in the msm as it is very linear
• memory stores - sensory register

  • all stimuli from the environment pass onto the sensory register
  • visual info is iconic memory
  • acoustic info is echoic memory
  • duration for material in sr is less than half a second , the capacity is very high as there is lots of info
• memory store - short-term memory

  • information will pass onto the STM from SR if we pay attention to it
  • will remain in STM with maintenance rehearsal
  • info can decay in STM if there is no maintenance rehearsal usually after 18 seconds, when STM is full new information displaces the old information
• memory store - long-term memory


  • info passes from STM to LTM through rehearsal prolonged rehearsal
  • LTM is a permanent memory store for info that has been rehearsed for a long period of time
  • when we want to recall info from LTM it has to be transferred back to STM
  • due to interference, retrieval failure and decay information can beb forgotten