The multi store model (Atkinson, & Shiffrin 1968) describes memory in terms of information flowing through a system. Accordingly, it can be described as an information processing model (like a computer) with an input, process and output. Information is detected by the sense organs and enters the sensory memory. If attended to this information enters the short term memory. Information from the STM is transferred to the long-term memory only if that information is rehearsed. If rehearsal does not occur, then information is forgotten, lost from short term memory through the processes of displacement or decay.
The three permanent memory structures: Sensory register (SR), Short term memory (STM) and the Long term memory (LTM). They differ in terms of…
coding – the form in whichc the information is stored.
capacity – how much information can be stored.
duration – how long information can be stored for.
The sensory register
All information contained in the long term memory will have originally passed through the SR in an unprocessed form.
There are two main parts of the sensory register: visual memory, also called iconic memory, and auditory memory, also called echoic memory. These senses take in most of the stimuli you are exposed to. Visual memory holds images we see for less than a second before it fades.
coding – It is stored in a raw, unprocessed form…
echoic store – auditory info, iconic – visual info, haptic – tactile info, gustatory – taste info and olfactory – smell info.
Research – Crowder (1993) found that the SR only stores information for a few seconds but also suggests that different sensory stores have different durations.
Short – term memory (STM)
Short term memory has three key aspects:
1. limited capacity (only about 7 items can be stored at a time)
2. limited duration (storage is very fragile and information can be lost with distraction or passage of time)
3. encoding (primarily acoustic, even translating visual information into sounds).
STM temporarily stores information from the SR. It is an active (changing) system and contains only information currently being thought about. The coding, capacity and duration of the STM differs greatly from that of the long term memory (LTM).
coding – information arrives in a form such as sound or vision and then is turned into a form the STM can more easily deal with for example…
if the input from the SR was the word ‘donkey’ the STM would use one of the following ways to code it…
- visually – by imagining a donkey
- acoustically – repeatedly saying ‘donkey’
- semantically – (through meaning) such as they are herbivorous land mammals that have been widely domesticated and are often used to carry loads.
Long term memory
LTM stores memory for a long period of time, all information in the LTM will have passed through the STM and the SR. Research indicates that there are several types of LTM and they are not of equal strength for example you can remeber when your birthday is but you may need more prompting to remember when your aunty’s is.
The potential capacity of LTM is unlimited, although due to interference and decay some may be lost. Bahrick et al. (1975) showed 400 partcipants aged between 17 and 74 years a set of photos and a list of names, some of which were ex-school friends and asked them to identify ex-school friends. those who’d left high school in the last fifteen years identified 90 percent of names and faces while those who’d left 48 years previously identified 80 percent of names and 70 percent of faces suggesting memory for faces is long lasting.
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