Outline and evaluate the multi-store model of memory.

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Outline and evaluate the multi-store model of memory.

The idea of the multi-store model of memory suggests that there are three different memory stores - a sensory store, a short term store and a long term store. Information is at first received by the sensory store, as the name suggests, from our senses (what we see, hear etc.). The information we receive can then be processed by the short term store and stored in our short term memories. This information in the short term store could then be processed further by the long term store. This would explain why rehearsal is needed in order to process and transfer information to the long term memory.
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There is a lot of evidence to suggest that there are in fact three memory stores. Capacity differs greatly between long term and short term memory. In Jacobs' study into span measures and capacity, he found that when he presented participants with a sequence of numbers and letters, to be recalled immediately after presentation, they could only recall 5-9 items. Therefore, the capacity of short term memory is 5-9 items. We can, however, continue to store things within our memories over the course of our lives, suggesting that the long term memory has an unlimited capacity. This gives ...

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