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The Multi Store Model - The Sensory Register - Coggle Diagram
The Multi Store Model - The Sensory Register
The multi store model devised by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) was the first cognitive explanation of memory , psychologists had previously tried to study memory using a biological approach
The model explains how information flows through a series of storage systems , with three permanent structures in memory : The sensory register , short term memory and long term memory
Coding : The form in which the information is stored
Capacity : How much information can be stored
Duration : How long information can be stored for
Information gathered by the sense organs enters the sensory register .
Only the small amount paid attention to passes to short term memory for further processing , the rest is lost very quickly
The sensory register is not under cognitive control but is an automatic response to the reception of sensory information by the sense organs
All information contained within LTM will have originally passed through the SR , though in an unprocessed form
Coding in the SR
Separate sensory stores for different sensory inputs
Echoic store - auditory info
Iconic store - visual info
Haptic store - tactile info
Gustatory store - taste info
Olfactory store - smell
Info that is paid attention to is passed to the STM while the remainder fades quickly through trace decay , leaving no lasting impression
Crowder ( 1993 ) found that the SR only retains info in the iconic store for a few milliseconds , but for two seconds within the echoic store , which supports the idea of sensory info being coded into different sensory stores
Evaluation of coding in the SR
After-images of visual events provide good evidence of sensory memories . The light trail produced by a moving lighted stick was noted as early as 1740 . Such phenomena led to early experiments into the SR in the 1960s
Sensory memory stores may consist of several sub stores , for example visible persistance and informational persistance within the iconic memory store
Capacity of the SR
The capacity of each sensory memory store is very large , with the information contained being in an unprocessed , highly detailed and ever changing format
Sperling (1960) flashed a 3 x 4 grid of letters onto a screen for one twentieth of a second , and asked participants to recall the letters of one row . As the information would fade very quickly , he sounded different tones to indicate which row had to be recalled . Recall was high which suggests all the information was already there , indicating that the capacity of the SR ( especially the iconic store ) is quite large
Evaluation of capacity of the SR
Calculating the capacity of sensory memory stores often involves experiments where participants have to evaluate cues that suggest a change in random wave patterns . However these only provide estimates of capacity and are highly artificial in nature and therefore lacking mundane realism
Although evidence exists that the iconic store can hold about 15 to 20 images , the capacity of other sensory memory stores isn't well studied , as they last so briefly and generally only at a conscious level
Duration of the SR
About 250 milliseconds. All sensory memory stores have limited duration , though the actual duration of each store is not constant , with different types of information within each store decaying at different rates
There is some evidence that duration decreases with age
Walsh and Thompson (1978) found that the iconic sensory store has an average duration of 500 milliseconds , which decreases as individuals get older . This suggests that duration of sensory memories is limited and dependent on age
Treisman ( 1964 ) presented identical auditory messages to both ears of participants , with a slight delay between presentations . Participants noticed that the messages were identical if the delay was 2 seconds or less , suggesting the echoic store has a limited duration of 2 seconds , while also demonstrating the difference in duration from the iconic store
Duration of the SR evaluation
The brief duration of sensory memories is seen as due to their physical traces (engrams) fading quickly . This suggests a biological explanation for thee duration of information within the SR
The brief duration of the SR can be understood from an evolutionary perspective as people only need to focus on information with immediate survival value . retaining non useful information diminishes the ability to do this
