Multi Store Model Essays

Submitted By francesdavis3pu
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Pages: 3

Outline and evaluate the multi-store model of memory

The multi store model (Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968) describes memory in terms of information flowing through a system. According to the multi-store model of memory can be explained in terms of 3 stores (sensory store, short term store and long term store) and 2 processes (attention and rehearsal).

Information first enters the sensory memory directly from the senses (hear, see, touch etc.). It remains in the sensory store for a maximum duration of around 2 seconds before it decays and is replaced with new information. If information in the sensory store is attended to then it can be passed to the short-term memory store.

Around 7 plus or minus 2 chunks of Information can be stored in the short-term memory store. It is encoded acoustically and remains there for around 18-30 seconds without being rehearsed. Where the information is rehearsed it can remain there for as long as it is being rehearsed, but it will stop any new information entering the store this type of rehearsal is called maintenance rehearsal. One output of short-term memory is forgetting and this happens as soon as you stop rehearsing or when new information enters the short-term store and displaces any information that is already there. A process called elaborate rehearsal achieves the transfer from the short-term store to the long-term store.

When information enters the long-term store it remains there for up to a lifetime. The capacity of the store is potentially unlimited, and is encoded semantically. Through retrieval you can recall information back into short-term memory and then through information retrieval the content of the information stored is remembered.

One of the main limitations of the multi-store model is that it lacks ecological validity because in daily life most people devote very little time to active rehearsal (regarding maintenance rehearsal in short term memory). In addition to this the multi-store model doesn’t go in depth into how we change acoustic encoding into semantic encoding therefor its too brief and does not have enough description another point which relates to this is the fact that short term memory doesn’t explain how we multi task this is a weakness because things that we can do at the same time aren’t explained in the multi store model suggesting that it is over simplified. Also the model is over simplified it suggests that there is just one long term and one short term memory store however research shows that there are 4 long term memory stores (e.g. procedure,