4. the working model of memory

Question 1

the working memory model is

Answer 1

Baddeley and Hitch’s model - an explanation of how STM is organised and functions.

Question 2

CENTRAL EXECUTIVE

what it does, capacity, coding

Answer 2

Monitors incoming data, focuses, and divides our attention and allocates tasks to the slave systems.
It has a very limited capacity and does not store information.
coding is modality specific.

Question 3

PHONOLOGICAL LOOP

what it does, capacity, divided into…

Answer 3

Deals with auditory information and preserves the order in which the information arrives. It is subdivided into:
· The phonological store - stores the words you hear.
· The articulatory process - allows maintenance rehearsal to keep sounds or words in memory.
The capacity is what can be said in 2 seconds.

Question 4

VISUO-SPATIAL SKETCHPAD

what it does, capacity, divided into…

Answer 4

Stores visual and spatial information.
· Limited capacity of 3 or 4 items.
Logie subdivided the VSS into:
· The visual cache - stores visual data.
· The inner scribe - records the arrangements of objects in the visual field.

Question 5

EPISODIC BUFFER

what it does, capacity

Answer 5

This was added in 2000 to the model as Baddeley thought the model lacked a temporary store for information.
It is a temporary store that integrates the visual, spatial, and verbal information processed by the other stores.
It is the storage component of the WMM.
· Capacity is limited 4 chunks.
It links working memory to long term memory and wider cognitive processes

Question 6

AO3: strength of WMM

research support - KF

Answer 6

One strength is support from Shallice and
Warrington’s case study of patient KF.
After his brain injury, KF had poor STM ability for auditory (sound) information but could process visual information normally.
For instance, his immediate recall of letters and digits was better when he read them (visual) than when they were read to him (acoustic). KF’s phonological loop was damaged but his visuo-spatial sketchpad was intact.
This finding strongly supports the existence of separate visual and acoustic memory stores.

Question 7

AO3: limitation of WMM

lack of clarity over the CE

Answer 7

One limitation is that there is a lack of clarity over the nature of the central executive.
Baddeley himself recognised this when he said, ‘The central executive is the most important but the least understood component of working memory’. The CE needs to be more clearly specified than just being simply ‘attention’. For example, some psychologists believe the CE may consist of separate subcomponents.
This means that the CE is an unsatisfactory component and this challenges the integrity of the WMM.

Question 7

AO3: strength of WMM

research support - dual task performance (Baddeley)

Answer 7

Another strength is that studies of dual-task performance support the separate existence of the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
When Baddeley et al.’s participants carried out a visual and verbal task at the same time (dual task), their performance on each was similar to when they carried out the tasks separately. But when both tasks were visual (or both were verbal), performance on both declined substantially. This is because both visual tasks compete for the same subsystem (VSS), whereas there is no competition when performing a verbal and visual task together.
This shows there must be a separate subsystem (the VSS) that processes visual input (and one for verbal processing, the PL)