Lesson 5 + 6 - working memory model

Question 1

who made the WMM and why

Answer 1

baddeley and hitch
STM is more complex than just a temporary store for information

Question 2

what is the central executive

Answer 2

controls slave systems
deals with cognitive tasks
people have limited attention capacity, tasks which are automated make less attentional demands on central executive

Question 3

what is the phonological loop

Answer 3

deals with spoken and written material
phonological store: speech perception, holds info in speech-based form (inner ear)
articulatory loop: speech production, rehearses and stores verbal info from phonological store - allows maintenance rehearsal (inner voice)

Question 4

what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 4

processes information in visual/spatial form
visual cache: stores visual material about form and colour
inner scribe: handles spatial relationships

Question 5

what is the episodic buffer

Answer 5

general storage component
integrates info from central executive, LTM, phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad

Question 6

2 strengths of the WMM

Answer 6

• accounts for case studies e.g. KF, could remember visual images but cannot remember sounds, so two components within STM
• can explain how we carry our everyday tasks, e.g. verbal reasoning, problem solving and navigation, so we can say it has greater validity

Question 7

2 weaknesses of the WMM

Answer 7

• exact role of CE is unclear, could direct attention to which slave system for a task but this is vague, may consist of subcomponents
• only focuses on STM, link between WMM and LTM not fully explained, incomplete memory model so other theories needed to gain complete picture of this complex cognitive phenomenon