Memory has been a controversial issue for centuries, not just the last few years. There have been many attempts to develop a satisfactory theory to explain its vagaries -- why we remember what we do and why we forget so many seemingly important things -- but none of them have continued to hold force for long.
Yet, there are many intriguing problems related to memory. There are the individuals suffering from forms of temporary amnesia. There are fugue states. There are those talking about repressed memories. There is shock treatment that sometimes eliminates short-term memory and sometimes erases years from people's lives. Cognitive psychology offers us yet another model of memory. The intention in the following pages is to explore this model, while examining some of the issues that a strong theory of memory would have to explain.
The first influential theory about memory in cognitive psychology was the multistore model, developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1971). This model built on the work of others in distinguishing between short-term memory storage, and use, and longer-term memory storage and use. However, Atkinson and Shiffrin added another component, in what they termed the sensory store, and reconceptualized memories as short-term and long-term stores. Essentially, this model asserts that environmental input is processed through the senses and moved into short-term memory or temporary working memory. It can then be utilized for action, or some sort of output to the environment. Additionally, it can be moved into long-term memory stores, where it can remain in storage until later retrieved for use in temporary working memory again.
While this model was fundamentally sound, it did not explain certain situations, and was too rigid. Challenging their model were Craik and Lockhart (1972), who favored a process view, rather than a rigid separation of short-term and long-term stores. Added to that was work by ...