8 – Memory 3 Flashcards
What are the three components of Baddeley’s model of working memory (1975)?
- Central Executive
– Limited capacity, modality free control system responsible for co-ordination, selection, allocation of attentional resources etc
And two Independent “Slave systems”
- Phonological loop: maintains verbal information
- Visuospatial sketchpad (inner eye): maintains visual/spatial information
In what way does Baddeley’s model of working memory differ from previous conceptualisations of STM?
Working memorydoesn’t just hold info– not just a passive short-term store – it also processes. So there’s a strong relationship b/w working memory and notion of attentional capacity.
In Baddeley’s model of WM, what is the function of the two slave systems?
The slave systems reduce storage demands on the central executive until it’s ready to incorporate that information.
In Baddeley’s model of WM, what is the function of the central executive?
The central executive is the system in which incoming information is processed and integrated with existing declarative and procedural memories. So it’s both place where info is received from external world and computations are carried out to reach performance goals that we require.
What are two measures of central executive functioning?
- Dual task decrements –how much does performance decline when Pps do two tasks at once? Used to index the limited capacity of the attentional system.
- Random number generation –it’s very hard to generate random numbers, as we usually slip into a pattern 35795357. It requires attentional capacity to sustain RANDOM generation.
Baddeley later added a third slave system, the ‘episodic buffer’, to his model of working memory. Why? And what is it?
The main motivation for introducing the episodic buffer was the observation that some (in particular, highly intelligent) patients with anterograde amnesia nevertheless have good short-term recall of stories, recalling much more information than could be held in the phonological loop.
The episodic buffer links information across domains to form integrated units of visual, spatial, and verbal information with time sequencing, such as the memory of a story or a movie scene. It links to long-term memory and semantic meaning.
What did Miyake et al. (2000) report about executive functioning?
Executive functioning incorporates a variety of processes. I.e. There are multiple executive processes used to control thought and action in different ways.
Which three separate executive processes were found by Miyake et al. (2000)?
- Updating - letter memory task, turn over letter cards one by one and have to always remember last three letters
- Shifting –shifting from one criterion to another; evaluating colour, then shape, then colour
- Inhibition – suppressing now-irrelevant information e.g. stroop test.
What evidence is proposed to support the independence of the three executive processes isolated by Miyake et al. (2000) –updating, shifting and inhibition?
These processes have different relationships with cognitive development, intelligence – and with each other. I.e. They are differentially affected by cognitive functioning, aging and various facets of intelligence.
A valid measure of the role of working memory capacity in ‘real world tasks’ need to assess SIMULTANEOUS demands of BOTH ______ and _________ (Just & Carpenter, 1992)
A valid measure of the role of working memory capacity in ‘real world tasks’ need to assess SIMULTANEOUS demands of BOTH storage and processing (Just & Carpenter, 1992)
What is the weakness of Baddeley’s model of working memory in assessing real-world performance?
The Baddeley model separates the processing component –central executive – from the storage mechanisms of the phono loop and vs sketchpad.
But, WM is the ability to simultaneously process and store information. So phonological loop is an incomplete measure of WM. A true measure must assess both those components at once.
What is the difference between simple and complex span tasks for working memory?
Simple span tasks require the memorisation of a string of items (usually letters).
Complex span tasks require both processing and storage. An example is the ‘operation span task’ (tutorial test). You decide whether sums are correct or not (processing component of task), but also simultaneously store sequence of letters presented in between those sums. Score for performance is how many letter span - n. of letters remembered.
What are 2 advantages of complex span tasks?
- They require both processing and storage, and so are a truer measure of working memory
- Show higher correlations with real-world tasks than simple
span (Daneman & Merikle, 1996)
What evidence is there that working memory processes might be modality specific?
Scores on a test of reading comprehension correlated more highly with verbal complex span tasks than with the maths complex span tasks. Verbal complex span tasks appear to be a better predictor of verbal performance; and maths a better predictor of maths.
What did Sanchez and Wiley (2006) discover about the effect of images on text comprehension in those with high versus low WM?
Low-WM pps scored best at comprehension with zero images and worst when there were ‘seductive images’ (decorative images that didn’t help understand the text).
High-WM pps scored best when there were seductive images and worst with ‘conceptual images’– intending to enhance comprehension but offering no new information.
Seductive images distracted those with low WM but had little effect on those with high WM.
Conceptual images less effective in both groups, because images were redundant. Further findings showed that images do not enhance comprehension unless they provide additional information
