memory: the working model of memory Flashcards
What is the working model of memory?
A representation of short-term memory. It suggests that STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using subunits co-ordinated by a central decision-making system
Who created the working model of memory?
Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
What is the WMM concerned with?
The WMM is concerned with the ‘mental space’ that is active when we are temporarily storing and manipulating information
How many components make up the WMM?
The model consists of four main components, each of which is qualitatively different especially in terms of coding and capacity
Why did Baddeley and Hitch create the WMM?
Created to replace the STM store of the MSM due to criticisms of STM
What criticisms did Baddeley and Hitch have of the STM?
- STM must be more complex than just a single unitary store
- STM must be an active processor, holding multiple different types of information simultaneously while being worked on
What did Baddeley and Hitch believe about LTM?
Believed that LTM was a more passive store that holds previously learned material for use by the STM when needed
What four components make up the WMM?
- the central executive
- the phonological loop
- the visuo-spatial sketchpad
- the episodic buffer
What is the central executive?
Has a ‘supervisory role’ and controls working memory by monitoring incoming data, allocating limited attentional resources and subsystems to tasks
What is the capacity of the central executive?
very limited processing capacity
What is the coding of the central executive?
modality free - not limited to any single sense as it needs to manipulate all information
What is the phonological loop?
The subsystem processing auditory/visual material and is subdivided into the phonological store and articulatory process
What is the phonological store?
Stores the words you hear as an ‘inner ear’
What is the articulatory process?
Allows maintenance rehearsal of verbal information from the phonological store as the ‘inner voice’
What is the capacity of the phonological loop?
Limited capacity - 2 seconds worth of what you hear
What is the coding of the phonological loop?
Acoustic
What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
Processes visual and spatial information by storing (visual cache) and manipulating it (inner scribe)
- known as the ‘inner eye’
What is the visual cache?
A passive store of form and colour (stores visual data)
What is the inner scribe?
An active store holding the relationship between objects in a 3D space
What is the capacity of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
Limited capacity - 3/4 objects (Baddeley 2003)
What is the coding of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
Visual and spatial information
What is the episodic buffer?
The sub-system that integrates visual, spatial and verbal information into a single memory rather than separate strands - providing a bridge between working memory and LTM
When was the episodic buffer added to the WMM?
In 2000
What is the capacity of the episodic buffer?
Limited capacity - 4 chunks (Baddeley 2012)
What is the coding of the episodic buffer?
Visual and acoustic information
Evaluation: Research support for the WMM Baddeley and Hitch (1976) -> strength
- concluded that completing two tasks (dual tasks) that involve the same component of WMM causes difficulty because capacity of each store is limited
- therefore, this supports the central executive of the WMM as it will have to sort and decide which information to put into your STM
- When Baddeley et al.s (1975) pps carried out a visual and verbal task at the same time, their performance on each was similar to when they carried out the tasks separately
- when both tasks were visual (or both verbal), performance on both declined substantially
- because both visual tasks compete for the same subsystem (VSS), whereas there is no competition when performing a verbal and visual task together
- found that performance was much better when the tasks were not using the same processing
- shows there must be a separate subsystem (the VSS) that processes visual input and one for verbal processing, the PL
Evaluation: Clinical evidence -> strength
- KF Case study from Shallice and Warrington’s (1970) supports the WMM
- after his brain injury, KF had poor STM ability for auditory information but could process visual information norammly
- KF’s phonological loop was damaged but his visuo-spatial sketchpad was intact
- this finding strongly supports the existence of separate visual and acoustic memory stores by suggesting the PL and VSS subsystems are separate processes located in separate brain regions
Counterpoint: Some of the key evidence for the WMM comes from brain-damaged patients
- unclear whether KF had other cognitive impairments which might have affected his performance on memory tasks
- challenges evidence that comes from clinical studies of people with brain injuries that may have affected many different systems
Evaluation: Nature of the central executive -> weakness
- the central executive has been criticised by other psychologists as a vague concept without a full explanation of its function and not fully open to testing
- lack of clarity over nature of the central executive
- Baddeley (2003) himself recognised this when he said, ‘The central executive is the most important but the least understood component of the working memory’
- episodic buffer also included
- the CE needs to be more clearly specified than just simply being ‘attention’
- means that the CE is an unsatisfactory component and this challenges the integrity of the WMM
