Lesson 5 + 6 - The Working Memory Model and Evaluation

Question 1

What is the Working Memory Model

Answer 1

• Proposed by Baddeley.
• Was designed to show how STM is organised and how it functions.
• The model focuses on when your mind is active, when you are using your STM to temporarily store or manipulate information.

Question 2

Central Executive…

Answer 2

Monitors incoming data and gets the ‘slave systems’ to work by allocating them roles.

Question 3

Episodic Buffer…

Answer 3

This was added in 2000 and is a temporary store which integrates all types of information.

Question 4

Visio-spatial Sketchpad…

Answer 4

A slave system which stores visual and spatial information when required. Eg. if you have to visualise the number of windows in your house. It has limited capacity.

Question 5

Articulatory Process…

Answer 5

Allows maintenance rehearsal and can hold up to 2 seconds worth of things you can say.

Question 6

Phonological Store…

Answer 6

Stores the words you hear.

Question 7

Long-term Memory…

Answer 7

Links to episodic buffer

Question 8

What are features of Baddeley’s ‘Dual Task Performance’

Answer 8

• Aim - to investigate the efficiency on dual task performance.
• Participants carried out a visual and verbal task at the same time.
• Concluded that p’s performance on each was similar to when they carried out the tasks separately but when both tasks were visual or both verbal, their performance declined substantially.
• This is because both visual tasks compete for the same slave system. There is no competition when performing a verbal and visual task together, the shows there must be separate salve system that processes visual input to verbal.

Question 9

Strengths of Working Memory Model…

Answer 9

1. Support from Tim Shallice and Elizabeth Warrington’s case study of patient KF. KF has poor STM ability for auditory information but could process visual information normally. His phonological loop was damaged but his visio-spatial was intact. These findings support the existence of separate visual and acoustic memory stores.
2. Another strength is that studies of dual task performance support the existence of the visio-spatial sketchpad. Baddeley’s ‘dual task performance’ shows there must be a separate

Question 10

Limitation of Working Memory Model…

Answer 10

1. There is a lack of clarity over the nature of the central executive. Baddeley recognised this when he said ‘central executive is the most important but the least understood’. Some psychologists believe that the CE may consist of separated subcomponents. This shows that the integrity of the WMM can be challenged.