The multi store model is made up of three different stores – the sensory store, short term store and long term store. It is an explanation of how memory processes (attention and rehearsal) function. The multi store model was described by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968.
The first store is the sensory store. It is composed of many different stores such as the eyes, nose, tongue, fingers etc. and the consistent sections of the brain. The sensory stores are continuously taking in information, although most of this information is not paid attention to, therefore these information only remains in the sensory store for a short period of time. if attention is paid to one of the sensory stores then this information is transferred into short term memory, this (attention) is the first stage in remembering something. The evidence which supports the limited duration of the sensory store of the MSM was collected by Sperling (1960). Participants were shown a grid of digits and letters for 50 milliseconds, they were either asked to write down all 12 items or they were told they would hear a tone immediately after the exposure and they should just write down that row. Sperling found participants were asked to report the whole thing their recall was poorer than when asked to give one row only. This shows that information decays rapidly in the sensory store.
The second section of the multi store model is the short term memory. The information that is held in the short term memory will disappear if not rehearsed. When we revise for a test we repeat things in order for it to stay in our minds and for us to remember it, this is called verbal rehearsal. This information will also disappear as new information will enter into our short term memory, therefore the old information will be pushed out, and the reason for this is because short term memory has a limited capacity.
Finally the long term memory is