Mem: WMM AO3

Question 1

Strength- supported by clinical evidence of case studies of patients suffering from brain damage

Answer 1

-e.g. KF had brain damage after a motorcycle accident, and had issues with his STM after
-unable to recall verbal/acoustic info, but could process visual (faces)- suggests PL damages, VSS intact
-supports that there are separate stores for visual, spatial, acoustic processing in STM- increases model validity
-but, evidence may be unique- ppts had brain damage + trauma, unknown how tasks were completed before brain injury- only generalized with caution

Question 2

Strength- empirical evidence from dual task performance studies

Answer 2

-Baddeley & Hitch (1967) showed ppts found it harder doing 2 tasks using their PL, but with one using PL (remembering no.s) and the other VSS (copying a drawing), performance was unimpaired
-suggests doing two similar tasks overloaded PL, but tasks which required separate slave systems had no competition
-shows evidence of multiple components in STM- increases model validity
-but, evidence from lab studies have low mundane realism- artificial tasks- so much be generalized with caution

Question 3

Limitation- critics (even Baddeley) said CE is too vague + doesn’t explain anything

Answer 3

-‘least understood’ component, and more research is needed to provide evidence for its role
-some psychologists said it might have separate stores
-lack of clarity q’s validity of model- unexplained + developed
-but, there is brain scan evidence (Braver ‘97) to support its existence- ppts given a task involving it and activity was seen in prefrontal cortex- got more active as tasks got harder
-further research is necessary