The multi-store model of memory: sensory register, STM and LTM, coding, capacity and duration
The multi-store model is an explanation of how memory works, proposing that information passes through three separate stores - the sensory register, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) - each with its own coding, capacity and duration, moved along by attention and rehearsal. It provided the first influential structural account of memory and is still used as a baseline against which later models, such as the working memory model, are compared.
Before you start
No specific prerequisites - this is a good place to start.
Method
- Learn the three stores in order and what moves information between them: attention (sensory register to STM) and rehearsal (STM to LTM, and maintenance within STM).
- Learn the coding, capacity and duration of each store, and the key study behind each figure: Baddeley for coding, Miller for STM capacity, Peterson and Peterson for STM duration, Bahrick et al. for LTM duration.
- When asked to compare stores, organise the answer under the three headings (coding, capacity, duration) rather than store by store.
- When applying the model to a new scenario, identify which mechanism (attention or rehearsal) is doing the work described, and state what the model predicts should happen next.
- Learn at least one supporting piece of evidence and one criticism of the model (e.g. that it treats STM and LTM as single, unitary stores) so it can be evaluated as well as described.
Worked example
A trainee waiter is told a table's order of six drinks. He repeats the order under his breath continuously while walking to the bar, where he correctly makes all six drinks from memory. Using the multi-store model, explain why his continuous repetition made this possible.
- Identify the store involved: an order given moments earlier and not yet written down is being held in short-term memory.
- Identify the mechanism used: 'repeats the order under his breath continuously' describes verbal rehearsal.
- Apply the model's claim about rehearsal: continued rehearsal keeps information circulating in STM, preventing it from being lost in the short time before it is used.
- Note the capacity link: six items falls within Miller's estimated STM capacity of about seven, plus or minus two, so the order is not too large for STM to hold at once.
- State the conclusion: rehearsal maintained the six-item order in STM for long enough for the waiter to use it, without necessarily requiring transfer to LTM.
Practice questions
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Q1Which store in the multi-store model has the largest capacity?Show answer
Answer: Long-term memory.
Q2What type of coding does STM mainly use, according to Baddeley's research?Show answer
Answer: Acoustic coding.
Q3What is the name of the process that moves information from the sensory register into STM?Show answer
Answer: Attention.
Q4According to Miller, what is the normal range for STM capacity?Show answer
Answer: About five to nine items (seven, plus or minus two).
Q5Which study is used as evidence that LTM can last for a very long time, using yearbook photographs?Show answer
Answer: Bahrick et al. (1975).
Q6What term describes the process of grouping individual items into larger, meaningful units to increase effective STM capacity?Show answer
Answer: Chunking.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a A Level Psychology exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Outline the difference in duration between short-term memory and long-term memory, according to the multi-store model, referring to one relevant study for each store.
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A student memorises a set of 12 unrelated playing cards by grouping them into four suits of three, then rehearses each group repeatedly before an exam. Using the concepts of capacity and rehearsal from the multi-store model, explain why this strategy is likely to help the student remember the cards accurately.
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