The Multi-Store Model of Memory Revision Notes
Subject: Psychology | Level: A-Level | Exam Board: AQA
The Multi-Store Model of Memory (MSM), proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968, is a foundational theory in cognitive psychology. It provides a simple, linear framework for how information is processed from our senses into our permanent memory, making it a crucial topic for understanding how memory works and a frequent subject of exam questions.
Revision Notes & Key Concepts
Revision Podcast Transcript
PODCAST SCRIPT: The Multi-Store Model of Memory AQA A-Level Psychology — Study Guide Audio Episode Approximate runtime: 10 minutes Voice: Warm, enthusiastic female tutor --- [INTRO — approx. 1 minute] Hello and welcome! I'm so glad you've pressed play, because today we're diving into one of the most foundational topics in AQA A-Level Psychology — the Multi-Store Model of Memory, proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin back in 1968. Now, whether you're revising for your first mock or polishing your technique ahead of the real thing, this episode is going to walk you through everything you need — the model itself, the key studies, the exam tips, a quick-fire quiz, and a summary you can carry with you. So grab a pen, get comfortable, and let's get into it. The Multi-Store Model is one of those topics that sounds simple on the surface — three boxes and some arrows, right? But trust me, the marks are in the detail. Examiners are looking for precise knowledge of coding, capacity, and duration for each store, and they want you to evaluate the model with real, named evidence. By the end of this episode, you'll know exactly how to do that. --- [CORE CONCEPTS — approx. 5 minutes] Let's start with the big picture. Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed that memory is not one single thing — it's a system made up of three separate stores, each with distinct characteristics. Information flows through these stores in a linear sequence, a bit like a production line. The three stores are: the Sensory Register, Short-Term Memory, and Long-Term Memory. Let's take each one in turn. First up — the Sensory Register, or SR. Every single second, your senses are bombarded with information — sights, sounds, smells, touch. The Sensory Register is where all of this raw sensory data lands first. It has an enormous capacity — essentially unlimited — because it holds a snapshot of everything your senses pick up. But here's the key thing: it has an incredibly brief duration. Visual information, called iconic memory, lasts only about half a second. Auditory information, called echoic memory, lasts a little longer — up to about four seconds. And the coding in the SR is modality-specific, meaning visual information is stored as images, auditory information as sounds, and so on. Now, most of what hits your Sensory Register is lost almost immediately. It never makes it any further. The gateway to the next store is attention. If you pay attention to a piece of sensory information — say, you hear your name being called across a noisy room — that information is transferred from the Sensory Register into Short-Term Memory. So let's talk about Short-Term Memory, or STM. This is your working memory in the everyday sense — it's what you're using right now to follow what I'm saying. STM has a very limited capacity. George Miller, in his famous 1956 paper, described it as "the magical number seven, plus or minus two." That means most people can hold between five and nine chunks of information in STM at any one time. And a chunk can be a single digit, a word, or even a meaningful phrase — chunking is a strategy we use to squeeze more into that limited space. Duration in STM is also limited — without rehearsal, information decays in around 18 to 30 seconds. Think about looking up a phone number and then getting distracted before you dial it. Gone. That's STM decay in action. The coding in STM is primarily acoustic — that is, based on sound. Conrad's 1964 research demonstrated this beautifully. He showed that people make more errors when trying to recall letters that sound similar — like B, C, D, P, T — than letters that look similar. This tells us STM is encoding by sound, not by appearance. Now, how does information move from STM to Long-Term Memory? This is where rehearsal comes in, and this is a point that trips up a lot of candidates, so listen carefully. There are two types of rehearsal. Maintenance rehearsal is simply repeating information over and over — like saying a phone number to yourself. This keeps information active in STM but doesn't necessarily transfer it to LTM. Elaborative rehearsal, on the other hand, involves processing information more deeply — linking it to existing knowledge, giving it meaning. This is what actually drives transfer to Long-Term Memory. And what about Long-Term Memory itself? LTM is your vast, permanent store of knowledge, skills, and experiences. Its capacity is considered unlimited — there's no known upper limit to how much the human brain can store. Its duration can last a lifetime — you can remember your first day at school, a childhood holiday, how to ride a bike. The coding in LTM is primarily semantic, meaning it's based on meaning. Baddeley's 1966 research showed that people struggle to recall semantically similar words from LTM — words that mean similar things — which confirms that LTM organises information by meaning. Information can also be retrieved from LTM back into STM — that's the retrieval process. When you're sitting an exam and you recall a study you learned months ago, you're pulling it from LTM back into your conscious working memory in STM. So to summarise the model: environmental stimuli hit the Sensory Register. Attention transfers selected information to STM. Rehearsal — particularly elaborative rehearsal — transfers information to LTM. And retrieval brings it back when needed. It's a neat, elegant model — and that's both its strength and its weakness. --- [EXAM TIPS AND COMMON MISTAKES — approx. 2 minutes] Right, let's talk exam technique, because this is where marks are won and lost. First — the AO1 versus AO3 balance. In a 16-mark essay on the MSM, you're looking at roughly 6 marks for AO1 — that's your description of the model — and 10 marks for AO3, which is your evaluation. A very common mistake is spending too long describing the model and running out of time to evaluate it. Don't do it. Get your description done efficiently and spend the majority of your essay on evaluation. Second — be precise. Examiners will not award full credit for "STM has a capacity of 7." You must say "7 plus or minus 2 chunks, as identified by Miller in 1956." That's the difference between a Level 2 and a Level 3 answer. Third — don't confuse coding, capacity, and duration. Coding is the FORMAT in which information is stored — acoustic, semantic, visual. Capacity is the AMOUNT of information that can be held. Duration is the LENGTH OF TIME information can be held. These are three completely different things and examiners penalise candidates who muddle them. Fourth — when you use case study evidence, explain the dissociation. For HM — Henry Molaison — don't just say "HM supports the MSM." Explain that his hippocampus was removed to treat epilepsy, that his STM remained intact so he could hold conversations, but that his LTM was severely damaged and he could not form new long-term memories. This dissociation between intact STM and damaged LTM supports the MSM's claim that these are separate stores. For KF — studied by Shallice and Warrington in 1970 — his STM was severely impaired with a digit span of just one, yet his LTM remained largely intact. This challenges the MSM because if STM is the gateway to LTM, how could KF form new long-term memories without a functioning STM? This is a powerful evaluative point. Fifth — use the PEEL structure for your evaluation paragraphs. Point — make your evaluative claim. Evidence — name the study, the researcher, the date. Explain — link the evidence back to the MSM. Link — state the implication for the model's validity. --- [QUICK-FIRE RECALL QUIZ — approx. 1 minute] Okay, time for your quick-fire quiz. I'll ask the question, give you a few seconds, then give the answer. Ready? Question one: What is the capacity of Short-Term Memory according to Miller? ... The answer is 7 plus or minus 2 chunks. Question two: What type of coding does STM primarily use? ... Acoustic — based on sound. Question three: Who proposed the Multi-Store Model and in what year? ... Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968. Question four: What does the primacy effect in Glanzer and Cunitz's 1966 study tell us about LTM? ... Words at the beginning of a list are rehearsed more and transferred to LTM, so they are recalled well — supporting the existence of a separate LTM. Question five: How does KF's case challenge the MSM? ... KF had severely impaired STM but intact LTM, suggesting LTM can function without STM — challenging the model's linear transfer mechanism. --- [SUMMARY AND SIGN-OFF — approx. 1 minute] Let's bring it all together. The Multi-Store Model of Memory, proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968, describes memory as a linear system with three stores: the Sensory Register, Short-Term Memory, and Long-Term Memory. Each store differs in coding, capacity, and duration. Information moves between stores via attention and rehearsal. The model is supported by the serial position effect — Glanzer and Cunitz, 1966 — and by the case of HM, which demonstrates the dissociation between STM and LTM. However, it is challenged by KF, whose intact LTM despite impaired STM questions the necessity of the rehearsal loop, and by the Working Memory Model, which shows that STM is not a single unitary store but a multi-component system. In your exam, remember: be precise, maintain your AO1 to AO3 ratio, use PEEL for evaluation, and always name your studies with researcher and date. You've got this. Good luck, and I'll see you in the next episode. --- END OF SCRIPT
Key Terms & Definitions
- Coding
- The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores.
- Capacity
- The amount of information that can be held in a memory store.
- Duration
- The length of time information can be held in a memory store.
- Unitary Store
- A memory store that is seen as a single, homogenous unit without separate components.
- Primacy Effect
- The tendency to recall information presented at the start of a list better than information in the middle.
- Recency Effect
- The tendency to recall information presented at the end of a list better than information in the middle.
Worked Examples
Worked Example
Question: Describe and evaluate the Multi-Store Model of Memory. (16 marks)
Solution: **Introduction**: The Multi-Store Model (MSM), proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968), is a structural model that describes memory as a linear system composed of three stores: the Sensory Register (SR), Short-Term Memory (STM), and Long-Term Memory (LTM). This essay will outline the key features of the model before evaluating its contributions and limitations using relevant psychological research. **AO1 - Description (6 marks)**: * **Sensory Register**: All stimuli from the environment pass into the SR. It has a very large capacity, a duration of less than a second, and is coded modality-specifically (e.g., iconic, echoic). Attention is required for information to pass to STM. * **Short-Term Memory**: STM has a limited capacity of 7+/-2 chunks (Miller, 1956) and a duration of 18-30 seconds without rehearsal (Peterson & Peterson, 1959). Coding is primarily acoustic (Conrad, 1964). Maintenance rehearsal keeps information in STM, while elaborative rehearsal transfers it to LTM. * **Long-Term Memory**: LTM has a potentially unlimited capacity and duration. Coding is primarily semantic (Baddeley, 1966). Information can be retrieved from LTM back to STM. **AO3 - Evaluation (10 marks)**: * **Point 1 (Strength)**: A major strength is the supporting evidence from studies showing a distinction between STM and LTM. **Evidence**: Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) demonstrated the serial position effect, where words at the start of a list (primacy effect) are recalled from LTM and words at the end (recency effect) are recalled from STM. **Explanation**: This supports the MSM's claim of two separate, distinct memory stores. * **Point 2 (Strength)**: Further support comes from neuropsychological case studies. **Evidence**: The case of HM (Milner, 1966) showed that after the removal of his hippocampus, his LTM was severely impaired (he could not form new memories), but his STM was intact. **Explanation**: This dissociation provides strong biological evidence for separate STM and LTM systems. * **Point 3 (Weakness)**: However, the model is criticised for being overly simplistic. **Evidence**: The Working Memory Model (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974) suggests STM is not a unitary store but an active processor with multiple components (Central Executive, Phonological Loop, Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad). **Explanation**: This challenges the MSM's view of STM as a single, passive store. * **Point 4 (Weakness)**: The role of rehearsal is also oversimplified. **Evidence**: Craik and Watkins (1973) found that the type of rehearsal is more important than the amount. Elaborative rehearsal (linking information to existing knowledge) is more effective for LTM transfer than simple maintenance rehearsal. **Explanation**: This suggests the transfer process is not as simple as the MSM proposes. * **Point 5 (Weakness)**: Contradictory evidence from case studies also challenges the model. **Evidence**: The case of KF (Shallice & Warrington, 1970) showed a patient with a severely impaired STM (digit span of 1) but a largely intact LTM. **Explanation**: According to the MSM, information must pass through STM to reach LTM, so this should not be possible, challenging the strictly linear nature of the model. **Conclusion**: In conclusion, while the MSM was highly influential and provided the foundation for memory research, it is now considered too simplistic. Its view of memory as a linear system with unitary stores is not fully supported by later research, which points towards more complex and interactive memory systems.
Worked Example
Question: Outline the key features of the Multi-Store Model of Memory. (6 marks)
Solution: The Multi-Store Model, proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968), consists of three separate memory stores. First is the **Sensory Register**, which receives sensory information. It has a very large capacity but a very brief duration (e.g., iconic memory lasts approx. 0.5s). Information is coded in its raw sensory form (modality-specific). If attention is paid to the information, it is transferred to the second store, **Short-Term Memory (STM)**. STM has a limited capacity of 7+/-2 chunks (Miller, 1956) and a duration of 18-30 seconds unless rehearsed. Coding in STM is mainly acoustic. **Maintenance rehearsal** keeps information in STM, while **elaborative rehearsal** transfers it to the third store, **Long-Term Memory (LTM)**. LTM has a potentially unlimited capacity and duration, and its coding is mainly semantic (based on meaning). Information can be retrieved from LTM back to STM.
Worked Example
Question: A teacher reads out a list of 20 words. When asked to recall them, a student remembers more words from the beginning and the end of the list than from the middle. Use your knowledge of the Multi-Store Model to explain this student's performance. (4 marks)
Solution: This student's performance can be explained by the **serial position effect**, which provides evidence for the Multi-Store Model. The student remembering words from the beginning of the list is known as the **primacy effect**. This occurs because they have had time to rehearse these first few words, transferring them from their Short-Term Memory to their Long-Term Memory. The student remembering words from the end of the list is known as the **recency effect**. This occurs because these last few words are still in their Short-Term Memory at the point of recall, as STM has a duration of around 18-30 seconds. Words from the middle of the list are often forgotten as they have been displaced from STM by later words and have not been rehearsed enough to be transferred to LTM.
Practice Questions
Question: Outline the capacity and duration of the sensory register and short-term memory. (4 marks)
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Question: Explain one strength of the Multi-Store Model of Memory. (4 marks)
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Question: Explain one weakness of the Multi-Store Model of Memory. (4 marks)
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Question: Distinguish between maintenance rehearsal and elaborative rehearsal. (3 marks)
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Question: Using your knowledge of psychology, explain why you are more likely to remember the name of your first pet than the name of a person you were briefly introduced to at a party last night. (6 marks)
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