Memory : working memory model Flashcards
who proposed the WMM?
Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
what is the WMM?
explanation of how STM is organised and how it functions
concerned with ‘mental space’ that is active when temporarily storing and manipulating information
4 main components
what are the 4 components of the WMM?
central executive
phonological loop
visuo-spatial sketch pad
episodic buffer
what is the central executive?
monitors incoming data, focuses and divides limited attention and allocates tasks to subsystems
does the central executive store information?
no
what is the capacity of the central executive?
very limited
what is the phonological loop?
deals with auditory information and preserves order in which information arrives
subdivided into:
phonological store
articulatory processes
what does the phonological store do?
stores the words you hear
what does the articulatory process allow for?
maintenance rehearsal
what is the capacity of the loop in the articulatory process?
two seconds’ worth of what you can say
what is the visuo-spatial sketch pad?
stores visual and spatial information
subdivided into visual cache and inner scribe
what is the capacity of the visuo-spatial sketch pad ?
3/4 objects
what does the visual cache store?
visual data
what is the role of the inner scribe?
records arrangement of objects in visual field
when was the episodic buffer added to the model?
2000
what is the episodic buffer?
temporary store for information, integrating visual, spatial and verbal information processed by other stores
maintains sense of time sequencing
what is the capacity of the episodic buffer?
limited
about 4 chunks
outline one strength of the WMM
support from Shallice and Warrington (1970), patient KF
KF had poor STM ability for auditory information but could process visual info normally after brain injury
phonological loop damaged but visuo-spatial sketch pad in tact
finding strongly supports existence of seperate visual and acoustic memory stores
what area of KF’s memory was damaged?
phonological loop
what does the case of patient KF support?
existence of separate visual and acoustic memory stores
what is a counterpoint of patient KF?
unclear whether he had other cognitive impairments which may have affected his performance on memory tasks
ex. trauma involved with motorcycle incident may have affected cognitive performance
challenges evidence from clinical studies of people with brain injuries that may have affected different systems
outline a limitation of the WMM
lack of clarity over nature of central executive
baddeley (2003) “the central executive is the most important but least understood component of working memory”
CE needs to be more clearly specified than just ‘attention’ (might consist of other sub-components)
means it is unsatisfactory component, challenges integrity of WMM
what did Baddeley (2003) quote about the central executive?
“The central executive is the most important but least understood component of working memory”
