03. Working Memory Model (WMM) Flashcards
Define the central executive.
Drives the whole system and acts as the ‘supervisor’ as it monitors incoming information, makes decisions and allocates slave subsystems to tasks. Controls attention, ie focuses, divides and switches our limited attention. Non specific modality- it can process sight, sound or any of the 5 senses. Very limited capacity and does not store information.
Define the visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS).
This part of working memory deals with visual and spatial information, as its information is encoded visually. It can be used to visualise or navigate your route to school or if someone asks for directions. It has limited capacity of 3-4 objects.
Define the phonological loop.
This part of working memory deals with spoken and written material, as this information is auditory, (ie sounds) encoding acoustic. It can be used to remember a phone number. It consists of TWO parts.
Define the phonological store.
Inner ear- Linked to speech perception and holds information in speech-based form (eg spoken words) for 1-2 seconds. Spoken words enter the store directly and the order in which information arrives is preserved. Written words must first be converted into articulatory (spoken code) before they can enter.
Define the articulatory process.
Inner voice- Linked to speech production. It is used to rehearse and store verbal information from the phonological store. Enables maintenance rehearsal, eg repeating words in a loop to temporarily store them but it has limited duration- about 2 seconds. This process also converts written material into an articulatory code and transfers it to the phonological store.
Define the episodic buffer.
(Not included in the 1974 version)
Added later in 2000 as a storage component of the central executive. This subsystem integrates visual, spatial and verbal information from other stores and maintains a sense of time sequencing. It has limited capacity of 4 chunks of information. It combines information from the other subsystems with long term memory and links to wider cognitive processes, eg perception.
What are the 4 main components of the WMM?
The central executive is split into:
1. The visuo-spatial sketchpad.
2. The phonological loop.
The phonological loop is split into:
1. Articulatory process
2. Phonological score
(The episodic buffer was added in 2000 and is NOT apart of the 1974 model)
What are the 3 types of dual-task performance studies?
(Baddeley et al, 1975)
Condition A:
-Task 1: track the light that is moving around the screen.
-Task 2: imagine a capital letter ‘E’ and categorise the angles as either top or bottom.
Condition B:
-Task: track the light that is moving around the screen and categorise the angles on the letter ‘F’ at the SAME TIME.
Condition C:
-Task: track the light that is moving around the screen and complete a verbal task at the same time.
What were the findings of Baddeley’s (1975) dual-task performance studies?
If participants performed a visual and verbal task together performance was not impaired.
But if participants performed two visual tasks (or two verbal tasks) simultaneously, performance of both declined significantly.
Most mistakes were found in condition B (track the light that is moving around the screen and categorise the angles on the letter simultaneously).
But participants didn’t have much difficultly in completing tasks in condition A and condition C).
How does Baddeley’s dual task paradigm study support the WMM?
Supports WMM as it shows that the VSS is entirely separate from the phonological loop as participants didn’t struggle when completing an auditory and visual task at the same time so these must be separate functions which can work simultaneously.
Describe the KF Shallice and Warrington supporting case study (1970)
-KF suffered brain damage in a motorcycle accident.
-His LTM appeared normal, but his STM was impaired.
-He has very limited capacity- only 2 chunks.
-His short term memory for digits was very poor when they were read out loud to him.
-But his short term memory for visual information was much better.
How does the KF study support the WMM?
It shows there’s two parts to the VSS. Increasing the validity of the theory.
What is the problem of the supporting research of KF?
An incident like a motorbike accident is not a typical event and the impact it had on his memory is unique to him. Brain injured patients like KF are not necessarily typical of the wider population.
Additionally, case studies are difficult to replicate so we cannot be sure the findings are valid, so we should be cautious in generalising their findings.
Describe Brain Imaging (Smith et al, 1995) findings.
MRI and PET scans have shown that different areas of the brain are active when using aspects of working memory.
-The phonological loop seems to be located in the left hemisphere, specifically in the temporal lobe.
-The VSS is in the right hemisphere, with simple tasks in the occipital lobe and complicated ones in the parietal lobe.
-The episodic buffer seems to be in both hemispheres (bilateral) but particularly in the hippocampus.
-The central executive seems to be linked to the frontal lobes.
What is the purpose of the WMM?
Expands on the MSM and the over-simplistic representation of the short term memory store as a unitary store in the MSM.
