Multi Store Model

Question 1

What is the multi-store model and who proposed it?

Answer 1

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) developed the Multi-Store Model of memory (MSM), which describes flow between three permanent storage systems of memory: the sensory register (SR), short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM)

Question 2

What is the coding of the sensory register, stm and ltm?

Answer 2

SR: in the senses
STM: acoustic
LTM: semantic

Question 3

What is the capacity of the sensory register, stm and ltm?

Answer 3

SR: High but limited by duration
STM: 7 plus or minus 2 pieces of info
LTM: Unlimited

Question 4

What is the duration of the sensory register, stm and ltm?

Answer 4

SR: 0.5 secs
STM: 18-30 secs
LTM: A lifetime

Question 5

How does info move between the stores?

Answer 5

info moves from SR to STM via attention. Info remains in the STM though a rehearsal loop. It moves into the LTM via prolonged rehearsal, and info moves from the LTM to the STM via retrieval.

Question 6

What are the strengths of the multi-store model?

Answer 6

+Research support: Baddeleys (1966) research supports the theory’s claim that STM and LTM are separate. Found we tend to mix up words that sound the same when using our STMs, but confuse words that have similar meanings when using our LTMS.
+Supported by case study of HM: who went through surgery to relieve his epilepsy. The hippocampus was removed from both sides of the brain and he could not form new LTM (he believed he was 27 at the age of 31), but performed well on an immediate memory span, and indication of a well functioning STM.
+ Other compelling evidence to support this distinction between STM and LTM is the case of KF (Shallice & Warrington, 1977) who had been in a motorcycle crash where he had sustained brain damage. His LTM seemed to be unaffected but he was only able to recall the last bit of information he had heard in his STM.

Question 7

What are the limitations of the multi-store model?

Answer 7

• Counterpoint: Baddeleys research may lack ecological validity as they use consonant syllables that have no meaning. MSM may not be valid model of how memory works in our everyday lives where we have to remember much more meaningful information.
• Counterpoint: One case study, not empirical (idiographic). HM’s epilepsy and removal of hippocampus an abnormality therefore we cannot make generalizations about how memory operates in neurotypical (the majority) of brains.
• Counterpoint: KF’s STM for digits was very poor when they were read aloud to him, but his recall was much better when he read them himself. Suggests there may be another STM store for non-verbal sounds such as noises.