M - The working memory model Flashcards
What type of memory does the WMM focus on?
STM
What is the central executive?
Monitors and coordinates all other mental functions in working memory.
What is the episodic buffer?
Receives input from many sources, temporarily stores this information, and the integrates it in order to construct a mental episode of what is being experienced.
What is the phonological loop?
Codes speech sounds in working memory, typically involving maintenance rehearsal (repeating the words over and over again). This is why this component of working memory is referred to as a ‘loop’.
What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
Codes visual information in terms of separate objects as well as the arrangement of these objects in one’s visual field.
What is the working memory model?
An explanation of the memory used when working on a task. Each store is qualitatively different.
Who came up with the WMM?
Baddeley and Hitch (1974).
Why did Baddeley and Hitch feel that STM was not just one store, but a number of different stores?
If you do 2 things at the same time (dual task performance) and they are both visual tasks, you perform them less well than if you do them separately.
If you do 2 things at the same time and one is visual whereas the other involves sound, then there is no interference. You do them as well simultaneously as you would do them separately.
What is the function of the CE?
To direct attention to particular tasks, determining at any time how the brain’s ‘resources’ are allocated to tasks.
What are the 3 slave systems in the WMM?
CE, PL, VSS.
What is the capacity of the CE?
limited
What is the capacity of the PL?
limited
What is the function of the PL in the WMM?
Deals with auditory information and preserves the order of information.
What is the PL further divided into?
The phonological store which holds the words you hear, like an inner ear.
An articulatory process which is used for words that are heard or seen. These words are silently repeated (looped), like an inner voice. This is a form of maintenance rehearsal.
What is the function of the VSS in the WMM?
Used when you have to plan a spatial task. Visual and/or spatial information is temporarily stored here. Visual information is what things look like and spatial information is the physical relationship between things.
