Multi-store model

• Atkinson and shiffrin created the multi store model

  it describes how information flows through the memory system, the model suggests that memory is made up of 3 stores linked by processing
• Sensory register

  all stimuli from the environment pass into the sensory register

  this part of memory has several registers one for each of the five senses

  Very brief duration and high capacity

  if you pay attention, it passes into short term memory
• short term memory

  coded acoustically, lasts about 18 seconds with out rehearsal

  small capacity 5-9 items

  maitenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat material, doing this long enough puts information into long term memory
• long term memory

  potentially permanent memory stored information over a long time

  Coded somatically

  Capacity is thought to be unlimited

  to recall information it needs to be transferred back to short-term memory through retrieval
• A strength of the MSM is support from studies that show short-term memory and long-term memory are different

  baddeley found we mix up words that sound similar when using STM but mix up words that have similar meanings when using LTM

  however, despite apparent support, in everyday life we form memory’s related to useful things but many of the studies that support MSM used items with no meaning

  so the MSM may not be a valid model of how memory works in every day life
• a limitaion is evidnce suggests their is more than 1 STM store

  a study of a client they refer as KF had a clinical memory disorder called amnesia

  KF’s short-term memory for digits was very poor when they were read out loud to him, but his recall was much better when he read the digits to himself

  This evidence suggests that the MSM is wrong in claiming that there is just one STM store processing different types of information
• another limitation of the MSM is that prolonged rehearsal is not needed to transfer to LTM

  According to the MSM, what matters about rehearsal is the amount of it, this is prolonged rehearsal

  However, it’s been found that the type of rehearsal is more important than the amount. Elaborative rehearsal is needed for long-term memory storage. This occurs when you link information to your existing knowledge or you think about what it means.

  This suggests that the MSM does not fully explain how LTM storage is achieved