Below you can see a diagram of The Multi-store Model. Which shows you the three major sectors, which are the sensory, short-term, and long-term stores.
Baddeley and hitch 1974 proposed a theory for memory, and named it ‘The Working Memory’. The working memory was a supposed more complex version of the short-term memory, as Atkinson and Shiffrin’s theory of the short-term memory was that it was passive. But Baddeley and Hitch’s theory suggested that the memory was an active process, and did more than just store information, but took an active role in the processing of information.
As the diagram below shows, we can see that the working model consists of a Central Executive, a Phonological Loop, and a Visuospatical sketchpad. The Central Executive, which is the most important part, directs what happens in the phonological loop and the Visuospatial Sketchpad. It is said to be the central pool of mental processes, where control, and decision-making takes place.
The Visuospatial Sketchpad is described as a slave system, and is responsible for the manipulation, and the temporary storage of visual and spatial information. Another name for the Visuospatial Sketchpad is the ‘inner eye’.
The phonological Loop is described as another slave system, and is also known as the ‘inner voice’. This component is responsible for rehearsing any words that are being considered (verbal rehearsal).
Both teams of psychologists seemed to disagree to certain parts of each other’s theories, as each had different opinions based on their individual research and conclusions.
Atkinson and Shiffrin focused their research on the structure of memory, rather than the processes of the memory, which Baddeley and Hitch researched. So it was easy to criticise each other’s findings.
The biggest issue between Atkinson and Shiffrin, and Baddeley and Hitch, was that memory was either passive or active.
Atkinson and Shiffrin’s theory claims that short-term memory is a passive store, as in it doesn’t participate in the processing of information.
Whilst Baddeley and Hitch disagrees, and their theory tries to shift the emphasis from passive storage in the short-term memory, to active processing, hence giving it the name The Working Memory.
Atkinson and Shiffrin’s reasons as to why memory is termed as passive are because they see the short-term memory as a temporary storage depot point for incoming information.
Firstly, the information gathered from the environment would first enter the sensory store, where the information is said to be received encoded, but despite the capacity of the sensory memory being so large, the information received is only held for a few seconds before fading away. So Atkinson and Shiffrin class the Sensory memory not as a storage system, but as what they call the attention system. They call it this because any information that is selected is processed further in the short-term memory, but any information that is not selected, or attended to, is lost.
Baddeley and Hitch opposed that theory, as they think that the short-term memory is active as it manipulates the information. Meaning, it controls the information that is received by the sensory memory. This meant that the short-term memory is a busy, and hardworking sector, that holds information in our minds long enough for the short-term memory to manipulate it, and decide whether to use it to carry out tasks, or to make decisions.
Despite the fact that Atkinson and Shiffrin do not agree with the manipulation of the information received, both theories accept the fact that the information in our short-term memory is drawn from the information in our long-term store.
Atkinson and Shiffrin’s theories suggest that the storage time of received information in the short-term memory ranges from 20 – 30 seconds, provided that the information received is not rehearsed, so it hasn’t been rehearsed in your mind. But they go on to say that if the information were then rehearsed by repetition, then the storage time would be higher.
Baddeley and Hitch’s theory oppose that because it suggests that information can only be stored for about 2 seconds. Also rehearsal is optional, as it’s not a necessity in order to help us remember information.
(For example. If a person is in a situation where they are getting mugged, and for a split second only they see the face of the man, then the man runs away. They remember the man’s face instantly, and do not need to continually look at this mans face to be able to recall what he looked like.)
As the Phonological Loop can only hold up to 2 seconds of information, they concluded that the storage of information was not based on recall, but how long it took.
(For example. Words. The effectiveness of remembering words didn’t depend on how many words there were, but on how long the individual word was. Because, it was found that the shorter the word, then the easier it was to pronounce, and if you were able to pronounce the information in the limited time of 2 seconds, then there would be a better chance of remembering the word.)
According to Atkinson and Shiffrin’s theory, the short-term memory was a capacity of 7 items, (or 7 chunks) plus or minus 2.
By chunking information allows the capacity of the short-term memory to be increased, because there is no defined limit to how big or small a chunk can be.
So therefore, the information that is chunked has a relatively good chance of becoming meaningful, which increases the likelihood of the particular information being stored in the long-term memory.
Whereas Baddeley and Hitch argues against that theory because, they suggest that the capacity of the short-term memory depends on the time it takes to recall the information.
Our senses (sight, sound, taste, smell, hearing, touch) are a big part of our memory. They are also part of both the Multi-store Memory, and the Working Memory.
In the Multi-store Memory there is an ‘acoustic store’ for sounds, and an ‘iconic store’ for pictures and visual information. Although the senses play a fair role in the Multi-store Memory, most information is acoustically stored, which means by sound in short-term memory.
The Working Memory has similarities and differences, and similarily; the Working Memory does use senses. (Such as ‘sight’ in the Visuospatical sketchpad). But unlike Atkinson and Shiffrin it is modality free, meaning it’s not limited to just one sense, for the fact that it needs to have a fair chance of manipulating all types of information.
Also it doesn’t believe you ‘have’ to go through the short-term memory before you can store information in the long-term memory. So short-term memory is not a prerequisite.
Evaluation
To conclude we’ve seen that both the Multi-store Memory, and the Working Memory both have valid points to each theory, despite the fact that both question the other individuals theory.
We’ve seen that the short-term memory controls what we say and how to respond. And it makes the decisions when it receives this information. We’ve also looked at the reasons as to why Atkinson and Shiffrin would think the short-term memory is a passive store, and why Baddeley and Hitch would think that the short-term memory is an active process.
A positive notion of the memory types is that they do consider and account for people with conditions, which affect the memory. For example. Amnesiacs. Because the short-term memory is not seen as prerequisite for long-term memory, so we can justify the reasons for some patients remembering permanent memories (like being a veteran of war). This proves that there are two separate systems, which are long-term, and short-term.
If I had to decide which theory I agree with, I would choose the working memory, despite the fact that I still agree with some of the theories in the multi-store memory. The reason as to why I chose this was because I feel that our short-term memory is an active system, and is manipulating the information as it receives it, and this is a natural mental skill, that my physical self most probably couldn’t handle.
Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968 – The Multi-store Model of Memory
