2.2: The visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS)

Question 1

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks)

Answer 1

Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor

Question 2

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
What is at the head of the working memory model?

Answer 2

At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity

Question 3

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which does what?

Answer 3

At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems

Question 4

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the what?

Answer 4

At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad

Question 5

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
What does the phonological loop also have?

Answer 5

The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity

Question 6

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity.
What does it consist of?

Answer 6

It consists of 2 components

Question 7

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity.
It consists of 2 components - what?

Answer 7

It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process

Question 8

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity.
It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process and what is it used for?

Answer 8

It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process and it is used for internal repetition to aid memory

Question 9

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity.
It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process and it is used for internal repetition to aid memory and also encodes how?

Answer 9

It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process and it is used for internal repetition to aid memory and also encodes acoustically

Question 10

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity.
It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process and it is used for internal repetition to aid memory and also encodes acoustically.
What can also be divided?

Answer 10

The visuo-spatial sketchpad can also be divided

Question 11

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity.
It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process and it is used for internal repetition to aid memory and also encodes acoustically.
The visuo-spatial sketchpad can also be divided into what?

Answer 11

The visuo-spatial sketchpad can also be divided into the visual cache and the inner scribe

Question 12

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity.
It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process and it is used for internal repetition to aid memory and also encodes acoustically.
The visuo-spatial sketchpad can also be divided into the visual cache and the inner scribe.
How does it encode?

Answer 12

It encodes visually (inner eye)

Question 13

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity.
It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process and it is used for internal repetition to aid memory and also encodes acoustically.
The visuo-spatial sketchpad can also be divided into the visual cache and the inner scribe.
It encodes visually (inner eye) and what is it used for?

Answer 13

It encodes visually (inner eye) and is used for visual or spatial tasks

Question 14

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity.
It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process and it is used for internal repetition to aid memory and also encodes acoustically.
The visuo-spatial sketchpad can also be divided into the visual cache and the inner scribe.
It encodes visually (inner eye) and is used for visual or spatial tasks.
What does it too have?

Answer 14

It too has a brief duration and a limited capacity

Question 15

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity.
It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process and it is used for internal repetition to aid memory and also encodes acoustically.
The visuo-spatial sketchpad can also be divided into the visual cache and the inner scribe.
It encodes visually (inner eye) and is used for visual or spatial tasks.
It too has a brief duration and a limited capacity.
What was added by Baddeley in 2000?

Answer 15

A 4th component, the episodic buffer, was added by Baddeley in 2000

Question 16

Briefly describe the working memory model (4 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model is a version of STM that sees STM as an active processor.
At the head of the working memory model is the central executive that has a brief duration and capacity, which oversees the 2 ‘slave’ systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The phonological loop also has a brief duration and capacity.
It consists of 2 components - the phonological store and the articulatory control process and it is used for internal repetition to aid memory and also encodes acoustically.
The visuo-spatial sketchpad can also be divided into the visual cache and the inner scribe.
It encodes visually (inner eye) and is used for visual or spatial tasks.
It too has a brief duration and a limited capacity.
A 4th component, the episodic buffer, was added by Baddeley in 2000 to do what?

Answer 16

A 4th component, the episodic buffer, was added by Baddeley in 2000 to address the shortcomings of the model

Question 17

Walter is able to draw an accurate picture of his friend’s face whilst simultaneously adding up numbers spoken aloud to him by his friend. Thinking he must be very talented, Walter was disappointed to find that he could not draw an accurate picture of his friend’s face with one hand whilst at the same time tracing a moving dot of light with his other hand.

Refer to the WMM to explain why Walter is sometimes unable to perform 2 tasks at the same time (4 marks)

Answer 17

Walter cannot perform two tasks simultaneously if they both use the same slave system of working memory

Question 18

Walter is able to draw an accurate picture of his friend’s face whilst simultaneously adding up numbers spoken aloud to him by his friend. Thinking he must be very talented, Walter was disappointed to find that he could not draw an accurate picture of his friend’s face with one hand whilst at the same time tracing a moving dot of light with his other hand.

Refer to the WMM to explain why Walter is sometimes unable to perform 2 tasks at the same time (4 marks).
Walter cannot perform two tasks simultaneously if they both use the same slave system of working memory.
Why is this?

Answer 18

This is because the slave systems have limited processing capabilities

Question 19

Walter is able to draw an accurate picture of his friend’s face whilst simultaneously adding up numbers spoken aloud to him by his friend. Thinking he must be very talented, Walter was disappointed to find that he could not draw an accurate picture of his friend’s face with one hand whilst at the same time tracing a moving dot of light with his other hand.

Refer to the WMM to explain why Walter is sometimes unable to perform 2 tasks at the same time (4 marks).
Walter cannot perform two tasks simultaneously if they both use the same slave system of working memory.
This is because the slave systems have limited processing capabilities.
Therefore, what?

Answer 19

Therefore, Walter can’t draw a picture with one hand and trace a moving dot of light with his other hand

Question 20

Walter is able to draw an accurate picture of his friend’s face whilst simultaneously adding up numbers spoken aloud to him by his friend. Thinking he must be very talented, Walter was disappointed to find that he could not draw an accurate picture of his friend’s face with one hand whilst at the same time tracing a moving dot of light with his other hand.

Refer to the WMM to explain why Walter is sometimes unable to perform 2 tasks at the same time (4 marks).
Walter cannot perform two tasks simultaneously if they both use the same slave system of working memory.
This is because the slave systems have limited processing capabilities.
Therefore, Walter can’t draw a picture with one hand and trace a moving dot of light with his other hand, why?

Answer 20

Therefore, Walter can’t draw a picture with one hand and trace a moving dot of light with his other hand, because both tasks compete for the limited processing capabilities of the visuo-spatial sketchpad slave system

Question 21

Walter is able to draw an accurate picture of his friend’s face whilst simultaneously adding up numbers spoken aloud to him by his friend. Thinking he must be very talented, Walter was disappointed to find that he could not draw an accurate picture of his friend’s face with one hand whilst at the same time tracing a moving dot of light with his other hand.

Refer to the WMM to explain why Walter is sometimes unable to perform 2 tasks at the same time (4 marks).
Walter cannot perform two tasks simultaneously if they both use the same slave system of working memory.
This is because the slave systems have limited processing capabilities.
Therefore, Walter can’t draw a picture with one hand and trace a moving dot of light with his other hand, because both tasks compete for the limited processing capabilities of the visuo-spatial sketchpad slave system.
When can he, however, do simultaneous tasks?

Answer 21

He can, however, do two simultaneous tasks if one is processed by the visuo-spatial sketchpad slave system and the other by the phonological loop slave system