Outline and Evaluate the Multi-store model Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968 12/12

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Outline and evaluate the multi store memory model

The multi-store memory model is a structural model explaining the process of memories, devised by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968. It consists of four key features:

Unitary stores- Sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory all have one store each, and each store is separate.

Passive-There are no decisions made in the process of storing memories.

Linear- The process of storing memories is a set sequence of events, first the sensory memory,  then the short term memory, then the long term memory, and none of these steps can                 be bypassed.

Rehearsal- seen as a key process in the MSM, information stored in the short term memory must be rehearsed for it to be kept in the STM and also to be transferred into the long term memory.

First, information (environmental stimuli) is detected by the sense organs and passed into the sensory memory. This is coded by the five senses and lasts for a fraction of a second, when it then decays, or attention if given to it and it is passed into the short term memory.

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The short term memory is coded acoustically and holds 5-9 pieces of information for up to 30 seconds. It relies on maintenance rehearsal to keep the information in there, otherwise it decays or is displaced by other things.

Elaborative rehearsal of the things in the short term memory allow them to be transferred to the long term memory, where the memories are coded semantically (by meaning) and for a potentially unlimited amount of time and a potentially unlimited amount of memories. In the long term memory the memories can be lost by retrieval failure or through interference of ...

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