Multistore Memory

• Multistore Model - Atkinson + Shiffrin (1968)


  Cognitive model of memory system processing

  • Sensory Register
  • STM
  • LTM
• Sensory Register

  Raw sense of impressions

  • Coding: Modality Specific
  • Capacity: Unlimited
  • Duration: 250ms
• Short Term Memory

  Recieve info by paying attention or retrieval, through maintenance or elaborative rehearsal

  • Coding: Acoustic
  • Capacity: 7+/- 2
  • Duration: 18-30secs
• Long Term Memory

  All memory that is rehearsed

  • Coding: Semantic
  • Capacity: Unlimited
  • Duration: Forever, fades after 40yrs
• (+) A03: Glanzer + Cunitz


  Found that words at the start and end of lists are more easily recalled (primacy and recency effect)

  • LTM = First Words
  • STM = Last Words
  • Displaced = Middle Words

  Suggesting different stores for STM and LTM
• (+) A03: Spearing


  Found recall of a row from a grid that flashed for 1/20th of a second was 75%, suggesting all rows are stored but attention remembers 1 and forgets the rest due to short duration

  Suggesting capacity and duration of Sensory Register is short
• (+) A03: Baddeley


  4 Different 10-Word lists given to 4 different participant groups being acoustically similar/different, semantically similar/different

  • Immediate recall = worst with acoustic
  • 20 Minute recall = worst with semantic

  Supporting coding for STM and LTM
• (+) A03: Jacobs


  Capacity of the short term memory

  • Words = 7 +/- 2
  • Numbers = 9

  These capacities are improved with chunking
• (+) A03: Peterson + Peterson


  Recall of 3-letter trigrams was less than 10% after 18 seconds if performing an interference task e.g. counting backwards

  Supporting duration of STM
• (+) A03: Wagenaar


  Diary of 2400 events over 6yrs, Wagenaar tested himself using cues

  • 75% Recall of critical details after 1yr
  • 45% Recall of critical details after 5yrs

  Suggesting capacity of LTM is unlimited
• (+) A03: Bahrick


  Recall of school friends names from photo prompts

  • After 15yrs = 90%
  • After 48yrs = 80%

  Suggesting LTM duration is forever, but dips after several years
• (-) A03: Artificial Research

  Low mundane realism and highly artificial due to being conducted in lab environments, not generalisable
• (-) A03: Simplistic Model

  Research of different types of LTM, WMM looks into STM in more detail as well; creates a machine reductionist view