3: Working Memory Model

Question 1

Who created WMM

Answer 1

Baddeley & Hitch (1974)

Question 2

4 main components of WMM

Answer 2

1. Central Executive
2. Phonological Loop
3. Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad
4. Episodic Buffer

Question 3

Description of WMM:
introduction

Answer 3

Baddeley & Hitch’s (1974) WMM is a model of short-term memory consisting of 4 main components, each different in terms of capacity and coding

Question 4

Description of WMM:
Central Executive

Answer 4

CE is the supervisory component of the WMM which directs attention to incoming info and starts off the rehearsal process
Can code from any modality (eg. visual, acoustic)
Has limited storage but can delegate info to its slave systems
Can also coordinate the activity needed to carry out more than one task at a time using different slave systems

Question 5

Description of WMM:
phonological loop

Answer 5

one of CE’s slave systems is the PL
PL codes and acts as temporary storage (rehearsal loop) for holding acoustic/auditory information and deals w both written/spoken material
Preserves the order in which info arrives
PL has limited capacity and can be subdivided into:
- phonological store (inner ear) which rehearsed sounds heard
- articulatory process (inner voice) which holds and solent’s repeats the words we are preparing to speak

Question 6

Description of WMM:
Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

Answer 6

VSS is the second slave system
The VSS (inner eye) coded visual info (eg what objects look like in terms of form and colour) and spatial info (eg physical relationship between objects
Also has limited capacity

Question 7

Description of WMM:
Episodic Buffer

Answer 7

Baddeley added EB to WMM in 2000
Seen as storage component of the CE that integrates info from the CE, PL, VSS as well as linking working memory to LTM
also has limited capacity, but it can code info from any modality while maintaining a sense of time sequencing that allows it to record events as a single memory rather than as separate strands

Question 8

Evaluation of WMM: strengths

Answer 8

P: STM isn’t unitary
E: research shows separate stored within STM
E: KF - brain damage to STM for verbal info (digit span 2) but visual STM mostly unaffected
L: STM has separate verbal and visual memory stores otherwise damage to STM would be equal

P: ‘dual task’ research supports that STM isn’t unitary
E: unlike MSM, WMM explains why ppl struggle processing 2 similar tasks at once more than 2 different (use different slave systems)
E: Baddeley et al (1975): pps struggled doing 2 visual tasks more than 1 verbal and 1 visual at once
L: separate slave systems for visual/verbal tasks

P: brain scan evidence supports slave systems
E: PET scans: diff areas of brain active for visual/verbal tasks
L: visual and verbal information dealt with by different structures that may be physically separate

P: real-life applications
E: identifying diff STM stores- psychologists target certain kinds of memory
E: educational psychologists developed memory training to improve verbal memory for students w learning difficulties
L: better understanding of STM can improve lives

Question 9

evaluation of WMM: limitations

Answer 9

P: little known about CE
E: evidence to support other components but little evidence to support the main component of WMM
E: unsure of its capacity, seen as ‘umbrella store’ ti cover functions not explained by the slave systems
L: WMM cant fully explain all aspects of STM

P: doenst account for musical memory
E: cant explain why ppl process music differently to other acoustic info
E: Berz (1995) pps cof listen to instrumental music w/o it impacting performance on other acoustic tasks
L: may be more than one acoustic store: STM more complicated than WMM suggests