memory 1.3 Flashcards
The working memory model: central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad and episodic buffer. Features of the model: coding and capacity.
what is the working memory model?
explanation of how short term memory is organised in its functions
it states you can complete tasks of different modalities at the same time e.g. walking and talking
what happens when doing tasks of the same modality?
your workings of both is impaired because there are limited resources for one component of the model
what are the four components of the working memory model?
central executive
phonological loop
episodic buffer
visuospatial sketchpad
what is the central executive?
it has been described as an ‘attentional process’ with a very limited processing capacity, and whose role is to allocate tasks to the 3 slave systems
who researched into the central executive?
Baddeley (1966)
what was Baddeley (1966)’s aim?
to investigate the existence of the central executive
what was Baddeley (1966)’s procedure?
he asked participants to think of random digits that bore no connection to each other (by tapping numbers on a keyboard)
it was either carried out on its own or with one of the following tasks:
- reciting the alphabet
- counting from 1
- alternating between letters and numbers e.g. A1 B2 C3
what were Baddeley (1966)’s results?
the generated number stream was much less random in condition 3
Baddeley supports the idea of the central executive as it shows that there are limited resources due to participant’s poor performance in the more depending tasks
what was Baddeley (1966)’s conclusion?
Baddeley said they were competing for the same central executive resources
what is the phonological loop?
the slave store that deals with auditory information and the order of information
two components of phonological loop
the phonological store (inner ear) which holds information in speech based form for 1-2 seconds
articulatory control process which is used to rehearse verbal information from the phonological store in loop
the capacity of this store is approximately 2 seconds worth of what you can say
phonological store
(inner ear) which holds information in speech based form for 1-2 seconds
articulatory control process
used to rehearse verbal information from the phonological store in loop
the capacity of this store is approximately 2 seconds worth of what you can say
who researched into the phonological loop?
Baddeley, Thompson and Buchanan (1975)
what was Baddeley, Thompson and Buchanan (1975)’s aim?
to investigate function of phonological loop
what was Baddeley, Thompson and Buchanan (1975)’s procedure?
presented participants with five words for very brief periods of time and were asked to recall them
participants were placed in either one of two conditions:
condition 1 - monosyllabic words e.g. harm, bus, tin
condition 2 - polysyllabic words e.g. undeniable
what were Baddeley, Thompson and Buchanan (1975)’s results?
average correct recall over seven trials showed participants remember short words much better
what was Baddeley, Thompson and Buchanan (1975)’s conclusion?
evidence of word length effect supports phonological loop
what is the visuospatial sketchpad?
second slave store holds visual and spatial (relationship between things) information for a very short time
you use it when you are planning a spatial task i.e. going from your home to college
limited capacity of approximately 3 or 4 objects
two components of visuospatial sketchpad
visual cache - stores visual data
inner scribe - records the arrangement of objects in the visual field
visual cache
stores visual data
inner scribe
records the arrangement of objects in the visual field
who researched into the visuospatial sketchpad?
Shepard and Feng (1972)
what was Shepard and Feng (1972)’s aim?
investigate functions of the visuospatial sketchpad
what was Shepard and Feng (1972)’s procedure?
participants were presented with cube nets and asked to either try and fold the cube in their head and answer the question “do the points meet?” or had to physically fold it and answer the question
what were Shepard and Feng (1972)’s results?
they found a strong correlation between time taken scores for mental and physical folding
what was Shepard and Feng (1972)’s conclusion?
this suggests that we use the visuospatial sketchpad to do the folding much similar to real life
what is the episodic buffer?
it integrates all types of data processed by the other stores (e.g. auditory) and so it’s described as the storage component of the central executive, as well as being crucial for linking stm to ltm
regarded as third slave system
forms whole ‘episodes of information’
it has limited capacity of about 4 chunks
how does brain imaging evidence support the episodic buffer?
Prabhakaran et al. used Fmri scans and found greater right-frontal brain activation for combined verbal and spatial information, but greater posterior activation for non-combined information
this provides biological support for an eb that allows temporary storage of integrated information
how does the patient study by Alkhalifa (2009) support the episodic buffer?
Alkhalifa (2009) described the case of a patient with severely impaired long-term memory who, nevertheless, demonstrated a short-term memory capacity of up to 25 prose items exceeding the capacity of both the pl and the vss
this provides support for an episodic buffer that holds information in working until it is recalled
explain how patient kf supports the wmm
kf was involved in a motorbike accident which resulted in damage to his short term memory, specifically his verbal recall
when tested, he was only able to recall two items verbally from short term memory
if someone read aloud a list of items from a shopping list, he would only be able to recall two things on the list in comparison to when tested visually e.g. shopping list was a set of images, his recall was mostly unaffected
as a result, this case study suggests that working memory may have separate components to it, one for verbal like the pl and one for visual information like the vss
explain how Paulesu et al. (1993) supports the wmm
evidence for separate components to the pl
Paulesi et al. put volunteers into a pet scan to measure the blood flow in the brain whilst they perform some memory tasks
one task was designed to use the inner voice and the inner ear of pl, they had to memorise a series of letters
the other task was designed to only use the inner voice, this involved making judgements about whether letters rhymed
researchers then compare the different parts of the brain that were activated during each task
they concluded that the articulatory control process (inner voice) was located in Broca’s area, in contrast to doing the task that used the inner ear a different area of the brain was activated known as the Left Supra Marginal Gyrus
suggests working memory contains separate components in the pl
explain how problems with research criticise the wmm
this is because many of the dual task studies are carried out in highly controlled settings
they also sometimes involve highly artificial memory tasks that don’t reflect real life settings, for example lying down in a brain scanning machine whilst trying to memorise a series of randomised letters
there is also the issue of participants aware that they are taking part in psychological research and wanting to perform well known as demand characteristics
therefore, this weakens the evidence for the wmm as it lacks ecological validity because the tasks don’t reflect natual behaviour
explain the criticism of the vss
research into the vss with people blind from birth has led to some interesting results
e.g a study by Wolbers et al. (2011) at Edinburgh University compared spatial awareness and showed that spatial awareness is not dependent on vision and spatial awareness is actually separate
this suggests that Baddeley and Hitch’s idea isn’t able to fully explain our memory and lacks credibility
vss could be divided into more than one component; one for visual working memory and one for spatial working memory
