Memory – Multi Store Model
Memory – Multi Store Model
Courses Info
MULTI STORE MODEL (MSM)
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968):
- Proposed the MSM, which has two distinct stores:
– short term memory
– long term memory
Properties of the Multi Store Model:
| Feature | Coding (how the memory is stored) | Capacity | Duration |
| Sensory Memory | Held in the same way it is registered | Large capacity
Sperling (1960) |
Brief – only a few seconds |
| Short Term Memory | – stored by means of senses
– visual / acoustic |
5 – 9 items
(Muller 1956) |
– if not rehearsed, then 18-30 seconds
Peterson & Peterson (1959) |
| Long Term Memory | Semantic
Baddeley (1966) |
Unlimited capacity
Luria (1975) |
Lasts from minutes, up to a lifetime
Bahrick et al (1975) |
Strengths / Weaknesses of the Multi Store Model:
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| · Applicable – MSM is the first cognitive explanation of memory. Provides a greater understanding of how memory works | · Reductionist – MSM model is oversimplified |
| · Reliability – evidence for the existence of the separate memory stores (Murdock 1962, Serial position effect) | · Lacks validity – Cohen (1990) believes memory capacity cannot be measured in terms of information, but rather by the nature of the information to be called |
| · Supported by amnesia cases – patients either lose their Long Term Memory or Short Term Memory | · MSM describes memory in terms of structure – the three memory stores and processes |
Exam Questions
- Describe and evaluate the multi-store model (16 marks)
- What are the properties of the multi store model?
- Compare the strengths to the weaknesses of the multi store model