Multi-Store Model

Multi-Store Model

1. Designed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968), the MSM was the first cognitive explanation of memory.

2. Sensory register

   • Coding - different stores for different senses.
     • Iconic - visual, echoic - auditory, haptic - tactile, gustatory - taste and olfactory for smell.
   • Capacity - a very large capacity
   • Duration - limited duration

3. Short-term Memory

   • Coding - acoustically
     • Baddeley (1966) found that short-term recall was worse if two lists of words were acoustically similar.
   • Capacity - limited capacity
     • Miller (1956) found people could remember 7±2 items
   • Duration - around 30 seconds
     • Peterson and Peterson (1959) found that people could remember trigrams for 20-30 seconds.

4. Long-term Memory

   • Coding - semantically
     • Baddeley (1966) found that long-term recall was worse if two lists of words were semantically similar.
   • Capacity - unlimited capacity
   • Duration - unlimited duration
     • Bahrick et al. (1975) tested 400 participants between 17 and 75 on their school friends. He found that those who had left in 15 years could remeber 90%, while those who had left 48 years could remember 80% of names and 70% of faces. This demonstrates unlimited capacity and duration.

5. Evaluation

   • Strengths
     • Basis of all other models
     • Research support
     • Supported by amnesia case studies like HM
   • Weaknesses
     • Oversimplified - only one type of STM and LTM
     • Focuses too much on structure and not on processes