Outline and Evaluate the Multistore Model

1378 Words6 Pages
Sarah Khan Psychology – Mr. Barr Friday 21st September 2012 Essay Question: Outline and Evaluate the Multi-Store Model of Memory Cognitive Psychologists Atkinson and Shiffrin first proposed the Multi-Store Model (MSM) in 1968. It was the first computer-based model of memory, consequently becoming very influential in the field of cognitive psychology. The MSM consists of three separate stores that are interlinked; it is presented in a linear fashion with the Sensory Store linking to the Short Term Memory (STM). Information is then passed back and forth between the STM and the Long term Memory (LTM). The first component in MMS is the Sensory Store (SS) where the ‘External Stimulus’ (information) is received. The information is then held in the SS for a fraction of a second in relevant subsections, which are: Iconic store - where visual input is stored. Echoic store - where auditory stimulus is stored. Haptic store - this store takes into account the items we touch and feel. So the duration of the external stimulus in the SS is very brief. Specific stimulus is encoded into the relevant subsections in order to keep the information for longer. Attention must be paid to the stimulus for it to be passed into our STM, if not, it receives non-attention and is forgotten. Once information has passed into our STM its duration is approximately 30 seconds with the capacity of 7+/-2 items. Stimulus is encoded into the STM acoustically, the given stimulus is constantly being repeated by the rehearsal loop, if this is not done the information will decay unable for it to pass onto LTM. Once information has been rehearsed enough it will be encoded into LTM semantically for a lifetime. There is no specific capacity to our Long-term memory, it

More about Outline and Evaluate the Multistore Model

Open Document