Memory: The Working Memory Model Flashcards
Who produced the working memory model?
Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
What are the four main parts to the working memory model?
- Central Executive
- Phonological Loop
- Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad
- Episodic Buffer
What type of memory does the working memory model focus on?
Short term memory
According the WMM, why is it difficult to do two of the same tasks at the same time?
Working memory splits STM into different parts, including the phonological loop.
If you try to use the phonological loop for two activities such as revising and listening to music, it will struggle because it has a limited capacity and it would struggle with two auditory tasks simultaneously.
What is the function of the Central Executive?
To monitor the overall memory systems rather than acting as a information storage system.
It allocates the cognitive memory tasks to the appropriate subsystem.
What are the two components of the phonological loop?
- Articulatory Process
- Phonological Store
What is the phonological loop?
It is responsible for maintaining speech based information. It has two subsystems including the inner ear (storage) and the inner voice (rehearsal).
Which part of the phonological loop allows for maintenance rehearsal (repeating sounds or words to keep them in the phonological store)?
Articulatory Process
Which part of the phonological loop stores auditory information?
Phonological Store
What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
It is a unitary system that deals with temporary storage and manipulation of visual and spatial information.
It allows us to recreate images in real time or things we have seen in the past.
What is the capacity of the VSS
About 3 or 4 objects
Who divided the VSS into two further parts?
Logie (1995)
What are the two parts of the VSS
- Visual Cache
- Inner Scribe
What does the visual cache deal with?
Visual data (e.g. images)
What does the inner scribe do?
Records the arrangement of objects in the visual field.
It allows you to rehearse visual/spatial information to maintain it in the visual cache.
When was the episodic buffer added?
2000
What does the episodic buffer do?
A temporary store for acoustic, visual and spatial information from other sub-systems, combining this with LTM and wider cognitive processes.
It maintains a sense of time sequencing, basically recording events that are happening.
What is a strength of the WMM?
It is supported with evidence from PET scans where different brain activity is shown during memory tasks which increases the credibility of the model.
Who conducted research using PET scans to support the WMM?
Smith and Jonides (1997)
They conducted PET scans which showed differences in brain activation during visual and spatial tasks.
This shows that the VSS may not be one store.
How does knowledge of the WMM provide application value?
Successful application of the model in society in providing direct interventions that help people with Dyslexia improve their reading skills. This then improves the plausibility of the model.
Which case study provides credibility to the WMM and why?
The case study of KF (Shallice and Warrington 1970).
He had for STM for auditory information but processed visual information normally.
This shows separate STM stores for visual and verbal information.
What is a weakness of the WMM?
The model only explains memory in the short term, therefore it is not a complete explanation of how memory works because it doesn’t explain LTM.
What is a further weakness of the WMM (regarding CE)?
There is a lack of clarity over what the central executive actually does.
This means that the working memory has not been fully explained because the CE still needs to be more clearly specified.
Why is the addition of the Episodic Buffer a weakness?
Adding to the model later suggests that the original model was incomplete and inaccurate, so it may still lack accuracy.
Why is using case studies (such as KF) a weakness?
Brain injured patients such as KF are unique and not necessarily typical of the wider population.
Case studies are hard to replicate and we cannot be sure that the findings are valid.
What are some of the ethical issues (issues and debates) associated with case studies?
Confidentiality - researchers must not name the individual.
Lack of true consent - someone with a severe memory deficit would not be able to give true consent if they do not recall doing so.
