Multi Store Model

Memory is the storing and remembering, or retrieval, of information in the brain. When we are given a stimulus, the information we take in through our senses, it is encoded, then stored appropriately to be retrieved when needed.
This essay will first describe what the multi-store model of memory is and how it works, then evaluate the theory by making comparisons with other models of memory, and showing its strengths and weaknesses by applying it to real life situations. The essay will continue by revealing the difficulties faced in healthcare when giving information to patients, and show various examples of strategies which can enhance memory so that patients might remember better, the information they are given within their medical consultations.

Various memory models were created to try to provide a visual picture of how exactly our memory works. They show the individual parts of the memory, which then go on to create the whole system. They also attempt to tell us what each of the parts do, alone, and how they work together. Multi-store
models show the memory to consist of multiple stores (normally 3), and each of these stores do something different from the others. The multi-store model created by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968/1971), shows three main stores.
• Sensory memory
• Short term memory
• Long term memory
The first part, sensory memory, consists of a separate store for each sense; sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.
Therefore, this means there are five sub stores within the sensory memory.
Experiments conducted in sight, also known as ‘iconic’ memory, showed that images disappear very quickly from the iconic memory. The sound or ‘echoic’ store has shown through experimentation to hold sounds for as long as four seconds, enough time that it can hold a sentence.
In order for this sensory information to reach the next stage of the memory process, short-term memory, it has to be ‘attended’ to, or ‘paid attention to’. The senses are under constant bombardment of information coming in, but most of that information is ignored i.e. we do not pay any attention to it, so it does not make it on to this next stage. This ignored information is quickly lost because new information is constantly taking its
place.
The Atkinson and Shiffrin multi-store model shows this next stage, short-term memory, as very important. Their model tells us that no information can pass in or out of long-term memory without first passing through short-term memory. It tells us that if we can hold information in short-term memory longer, that it is likely then to be transferred to long-term memory. This is where the model shows that ‘rehearsal’, or repetition of information within the short-term memory is an important factor in this process. An example of this would be if a person were trying to remember a list of items, they should keep repeating or ‘rehearsing’ the items over and over, which will help to keep the information in the short-term memory for longer. They found that any information, which was rehearsed frequently, had a greater likelihood of successful recall.

The multi-store model is a very simplified and robotic way of describing how memory works. It tells us that in order for any memories to be stored in the long-term, we must first keep rehearsing it, otherwise it will be forgotten. However, information is stored into long-term all the time and most people don’t constantly repeat everything they have heard or seen during their day. If repetition is so important then most of our day would have been completely forgotten by the time we go to bed. It also gives the impression that the long-term memory is merely a large storage area, which has no real active influence in the memory system. That it is simply there for storage and retrieval. The model shows us that information is stored in straight lines, sensory to short-term to long-term, and back again in retrieval. This is a very mechanical and straight-forward view of a memory system, which many believe is far more complicated.
In general, patients want to know the information regarding their health condition, including what their treatment will be, but most feel that this information is not given. Some patients don’t understand what they have been told, but many others don’t actually remember all the information.
Without the correct information – whether not understanding it or just forgetting it, recovery or management of symptoms will be adversely affected. So the question has been asked, ‘What can be done to help the patient to understand and remember the information better?’
Various recall interventions (a strategy to aid a patient in remembering more information from their medical consultation) have been devised with the intention of helping to minimise this problem. There are several different interventions, including recording the consultation on an audio device, providing written materials, the clinician asking questions to encourage the patient to pay attention, or to bring their focus back, prompt sheets, visual aids, cognitive strategies, rehearsal or repeating, communication styles and personalised teachings.