lesson 5: the working memory model

Question 1

Clive Wearing
CASE STUDY

Answer 1

damage to both temporal lobes, hippocampus destroyed
procedual memory for playing music and and procedual memorries = fine
episodic memories effected,
after hippocampus removed couldn’t make any new memories = semantic memory didn’t work

support the idea there’s differnt types of LTM

Question 2

Henry Molaison, 1926-2008
CASE STUDY

Answer 2

severly epileptic
to control seizures neurosurgeon suctioned out his hippocampi from temporal lobe
reduced seizures but severe memory impairment
not learn new words, songs, faces
forgot who he was talking to after turned away
can’t clearly remeber an event
kept ability to learn motor skills, maze test

Question 3

Different types of LTM memory

Answer 3

long term memory divided into
declarative (you can tell/explain them):
semantic & episodic
implicit (you can’t tell/explain them):
procedural

Question 4

definition of semantic memory

Answer 4

Semantic memory= knowing that
combination of encycloopedia and dictionary
eg knowing capital of france, not time specific, don’t remeber when we learnt the fact

Question 5

definition of episodic episodic

Answer 5

knowing about life events
recall events from our lives
eg your last birthday
are time stamped
include people, places, objects

Question 6

definition of procedural episodic

Answer 6

knowing how
memory for skills
no conscious awarness
eg driving a car
difficult to explain to someone

Question 7

Evidence for different types of LTM
Tulving et al,1994

Answer 7

episodic memory associated with hippocampus and semantic with temporal lobes
prefrontal cortex both types of memory
procedural = cerebellum

Question 8

Working Memory Model, Baddeley and Hitch, 1977
EXPLANATION

Answer 8

thought MSM = too simplistic, STM not a passive store, several active processes
central executive= 2 slave systems
1: phonological loop, 2: the visuo-spatial sketchpad
central executive allocates and dirrects attention to slave systems when we encode information
phonological loop: articulatory control system= inner voice= production of speech, phonological store= inner ear= perception of speech
visuo-spatial sketchpad= inner eye, processes visual data, visual & spacial coding
year 2000 added slave system= episodic buffer links information across systems forms intergrated unitss of information with time sequencing, links between LTM and semantical meaning

Question 9

Working Memory Model, Baddeley and Hitch, 1977
IMAGE

Answer 9

Question 10

Working Memory Model, Baddeley and Hitch, 1977
EVALUATION, STRENGTHS

Answer 10

+ different areas activated doing different tasks
PET scans= different areas active, visual tasks= posterior regions, auditory= lateral regions
+supportive evidence dual task research
assumes slave systems= limmited capacity= people performing task using both systems effects performance
Baddeley and Hitch= performance of a visual task slowed when repeating random digits at the same time
consciousfully doing tasks involove different stores

Question 11

Working Memory Model, Baddeley and Hitch, 1977
EVALUATION, WEAKNESSES

Answer 11

lacks ecological validity
labatory base, lacks mundane realism
difficult to apply to real life

functioning of the central executive vague
little known and no explanation provided how information transferd through slave systems
may be oversimplistic