Multi-store Model

• Who made the model?

  Atkinson & Shriffin (1968)
• What are the three components of the model?

  1. Sensory Register

  2. STM store

  3. LTM store
• 1. What is the sensory register?


  It's a memory store for each of our 5 senses. All stimuli from environment passes through our sensory register.
• 1. What is the duration of the sensory register?


  duration is very brief, lasts less than half a second.
• 1. What is the capacity of the sensory register?


  Capacity is very large as lots of sounds and smells are being taken it at once.
• 2. What type of coding is STM?

  Coding is mainly acoustically
• 2. What is the duration of STM?


  lasts only around 18 seconds if not rehearsed
• 2. What is the capacity of STM?


  has a limited capacity store
• What is maintenance rehearsal?


  It is when we repeat material to ourselves over & over again. If we rehearse it long enough it passes to our LTM.
• 3. What type of coding is LTM?

  Coding is mostly semantically
• 3. What is the duration of LTM?

  can last up to a lifetime
• 3. What is the capacity of LTM?

  Thought to be unlimited
• How do we retrieve information from our LTM?

  according to MSM to recall information it needs to be transferred back into stm through retrieval.
• What is one strength of MSM?

  - support from studies showing STM & LTM are different.

  - Alan Baddeley found we mix up words that sound similar when using our STM but we mix up words w/ similar meaning when we use our LTM.

  - this clearly shows that STM & LTM are separate stores
• What is a counter to a strength of MSM?

  - many studies use artificial stimuli

  - material has no meaning

  - we form memories related to useful things - names, facts, faces.

  - MSM thus may not b a valid model of how memory works in our day to day lives
• What is one limitation of MSM?


  - evidence for more than one STM store

  - Shallice & Warrington studies a client called KF who had amnesia

  - his STM for digits was very poor when read out to him but his recall was much better when reading out digits himself

  - further studies of KF & others show there could b another STM store for non-verbal sounds

  - this suggests MSM is wrong in saying there is just one store for STM.