AQA A-Level Psychology: The Multi-Store and Working Memory Models (7182)

This guide covers the two structural models of memory within Memory (4.1.2 in the A-level subject content; 3.1.2 in the AS subject content), from AQA AS and A-level Psychology (7181/7182), Version 1.4, 1 September 2025: the multi-store model, and the working memory model.

Scope of this guide

The Memory topic also covers explanations for forgetting and eyewitness testimony accuracy. This resource focuses on the two structural models — multi-store and working memory — which underpin the rest of the topic; forgetting and eyewitness testimony are left for a separate resource.

Syllabus coverage

AQA AS AND A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY (7181/7182) — 4.1.2 MEMORY (STRUCTURAL MODELS)

The multi-store model of memory: sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory. Features of each store: coding, capacity and duration. The working memory model: central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad and episodic buffer. Features of the model: coding and capacity.

How to approach it

The multi-store model and the working memory model answer different questions, and keeping that distinction explicit is the key to using both models correctly in an exam. The multi-store model (Atkinson and Shiffrin) describes memory as a sequence of separate stores that information passes through — sensory register, then short-term memory, then long-term memory — each with its own coding, capacity and duration. The working memory model (Baddeley and Hitch) is instead a more detailed account of what is happening within short-term memory specifically, breaking it down into active, interacting components rather than treating it as a single unified store. A common weak answer treats the two models as competing alternatives for the same thing; the stronger answer recognises the working memory model as a refinement of the STM component the multi-store model treats too simply.

For the multi-store model, learn the three stores’ features as a comparison table: sensory register (coding: modality-specific, e.g. iconic/echoic; capacity: very large; duration: less than half a second); short-term memory (coding: mainly acoustic; capacity: 7±2 items, per Miller; duration: 18-30 seconds without rehearsal); long-term memory (coding: mainly semantic; capacity: potentially unlimited; duration: up to a lifetime). For the working memory model, learn each component’s specific role: the central executive directs attention and coordinates the other components (limited capacity, no storage of its own); the phonological loop handles auditory/verbal information (split into the phonological store and the articulatory process); the visuo-spatial sketchpad handles visual and spatial information; the episodic buffer integrates information from the other components and links to long-term memory.

Worked example: applying the working memory model to a scenario

A question describes someone struggling to remember a phone number while simultaneously reading a map, and asks candidates to explain this difficulty using the working memory model.

Task 1:        holding the phone number in mind -- verbal/acoustic
               information, kept available by sub-vocal rehearsal
               in the phonological loop
Task 2:        reading the map -- the layout is visual/spatial
               (visuo-spatial sketchpad), but reading street and
               place names to yourself also uses the phonological
               loop
Explanation:   the difficulty arises because both tasks need the
               SAME limited-capacity component: the place names and
               the phone number compete for the phonological loop,
               so rehearsal of the number is displaced and the
               number is lost
Central        working out an unfamiliar route is attention-
executive:     demanding; the central executive has limited capacity
               and no storage of its own, so while it is loaded by
               navigation it cannot also keep directing rehearsal of
               the number
Contrast:      if the second task were purely visuo-spatial (tracing
               a route by eye, with no names to read), the model
               predicts relatively little interference, because a
               separate component would handle each task

This pattern — identifying which specific component each task needs, then explaining whether the tasks compete for the same component (or overload the central executive) and so interfere — is the core applied skill this content is assessed against. An answer that concludes the two tasks “can be performed with little interference” does not explain a person who is struggling.

Key terms to define precisely

Coding — the format in which information is stored in a memory system (for example, acoustic, visual or semantic). Capacity — the amount of information a memory store can hold. Duration — how long information remains available in a memory store before it is lost or transferred. Central executive — the working memory component that directs attention and coordinates the phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad and episodic buffer, but has no storage capacity of its own. Episodic buffer — the working memory component that integrates information from the other components into a single, temporary representation and provides a link to long-term memory.

Background, not specification content: earlier versions of the specification (up to version 1.2, October 2021) also listed types of long-term memory (episodic, semantic, procedural). That bullet was removed in version 1.4 (first teaching September 2025), so it is not required for exams from June 2026 (AS) and June 2027 (A-level). It can still be useful context when evaluating the multi-store model’s single long-term store.

Common mistakes

Treating the multi-store model and the working memory model as interchangeable or competing explanations of the same thing, rather than recognising the working memory model as a more detailed account of the STM component specifically. Confusing the coding type associated with each store (acoustic for STM, semantic for LTM) or misremembering STM’s capacity and duration figures. Naming a working memory component without describing its specific function. Omitting the episodic buffer, which is easy to forget since it was added to the model later than the other three components.

Quick revision checklist

• Build a comparison table of sensory register, STM and LTM covering coding, capacity and duration.
• Learn the four working memory components and each one’s specific role.
• Be able to explain why two simultaneous tasks may or may not interfere with each other, using the working memory model’s separate components.
• Practise clearly distinguishing what each model is actually describing (a sequence of stores, versus internal STM structure).

Official syllabus

AQA AS and A-level Psychology (7181/7182) specification, Version 1.4 — aqa.org.uk/7182.