Outline and evaluate the Multistore Model of Memory.
Outline and evaluate the Multistore Model
The multistore model is an attempt to explain how human memory processes and stores information. It was devised by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968. They proposed that human memory consisted of three separate unitary stores that information flows through and is processed at each stage.
In the multistore model, a stimulus from the environment enters the sensory register and is processed echoically, iconically or haptically. If attention is paid, information is coded acoustically then transferred to short-term memory. To retain information in short-term memory for a limited time, maintenance rehearsal must take place. Information can then be maintained and transferred to long-term memory through elaborative rehearsal. The information can then be retrieved for use in the short-term memory, once it has been coded semantically in long-term memory.