Describe Atkinson and Shiffrin's Multi Store Model of Memory

The model centres around the concept of memory having three distinct components, the sensory register, the short-term memory (STM), and the long-term memory (LTM). These components are sequential with different processes between the units to allow information to flow between them. Information from the environment, registered by your senses, first accesses the sensory register. From this point, 95% of information received from the senses is 'dumped', with information only reaching the short-term memory through attention, i.e. paying attention to a certain sensation. The STM only has a capacity of around 7 digits, so is very limited and cannot hold much information. Once the information is in the STM, it is either recalled, i.e. exits the unit, or passes to the long-term memory. The process of transferring information from the short to the long-term memory is rehearsal; you need to practise and repeat information in order to be able to remember it, via it's access to the LTM. Information is then retrieved from LTM and passed back to the STM in order to be recalled. The model is a visual one, simplifying memory into separate units and has since been replaced by a more complex model, the Working Memory Model by Baddeley and Hitch. The components are distinct, each encoding information differently, e.g. the STM acoustically and the LTM semantically, providing a simplified explanation as to how memory works.