AO1 - Atkinson and Shiffrin's Multi-store Model

• INTRO TO ESSAY: Atkinson and Shiffrin's multi-store model describes how information flows through memory. It is a structural model stating that the Sensory Register, Short-Term Memory (STM) and Long-Term Memory (LTM) are separate unitary stores, and that information flows through the system in a linear way.
• 1. A stimulus from the environment will pass into the sensory register. This part of memory has several stores (one for each of the five senses) and coding in each store is modality specific - the two main stores are echoic (coded acoustically) and iconic (coded visually)

  • Information in the sensory register has a duration of less than a second (0.5 seconds), the capacity of the sensory register is high
• 2. Information passes from the sensory register to the STM only if attention is paid to it, if attention is not being paid, the information decays
• 3. STM is a limited capacity store, the capacity is 5-9 items. Information in the STM is coded acoustically and the duration of information is 18-30 seconds unless rehearsed
• 4. If maintenance rehearsal occurs, it can increase the length of time the information is held in the STM - if the information is rehearsed enough, it will pass to the LTM
• 5. LTM is a potentially permanent store for information that has been rehearsed for a prolonged time. Psychologists believe the capacity is potentially unlimited and that information can last a lifetime - the LTM codes information semantically
• 6. To recall information, it must be transferred from the LTM to the STM through retrieval
• Sensory register:

  • Coding - modality specific (iconic store is visually, echoic store is acoustically)
  • Capacity - high
  • Duration - less than 1 second (0.5 seconds)
• Short Term Memory:

  • Coding - acoustically
  • Capacity - 5-9 items
  • Duration - 18-30 seconds unless rehearsed
• Long Term Memory:

  • Coding - semantically
  • Capacity - potentially unlimited
  • Duration - potentially forever
• Multi-store model: