Multi-store model of memory

-Multi-store model of memory
-Multi-store model of memory devised by Atkinson and Shriffin (1968)

 Environmental stimuli e.g., taste, sight
 |
 Sensory register (SR)
 | (Attention) > Information lost
 Short term memory (STM) ^ Rehearsal- maintenance or elaborative <----
 | > Information lost / | Retrieval
 Long term memory (LTM) ----------------------------------------
 | >Information lost

Capacity Duration Coding
Sensory Register Unlimited 250ms Modality specific
Short term memory 7 +/- 2 items 18-30s Acoustic
Long term memory Unlimited Forever Semantic
 Coding- What format the information is stored in
 Capacity-How much (quantity) information can be held in the memory store at a time
 Duration- How long information stays in the memory store
 Function- How do the dynamics of the model work? For example: the role of rehearsal
(maintenance keeps information in STM, Elaborative moves the information into LTM by
linking it to pre-existing material by semantics encoding



-Sensory Register

 Stimulus from the environment e.g., someone's name
 Passes to the SR with other sights, smells etc
 This part of our memory has five stores, one for each sense
 Two main stores are called iconic memory (visual information is coded visually) and echoic
memory (auditory information is coded acoustically)
 Duration is less than a second
 SR have a high capacity, one hundred million cells in one eye, storing data
 Little data that goes into the SR passes further into the memory system.
 It goes further if you pay attention to it

-Short term memory:

 Limited capacity store
 Can only contain a certain number of ‘things’ before forgetting
 Averages between 5 and 9, but is closer to 5 than 9
 Is approximately 7 +/- 2
 Information is coded acoustically and lasts about 30 seconds unless rehearsed
 Maintenance occurs with repetition
 Can keep the information in our STMs if rehearsal occurs
 If rehearsal occurs, it will pass to the LTM

-Long term memory:

 Potentially permanent memory store if rehearsed for a long time