Memory - working memory model (WMM) Flashcards
What is working memory?
A limited capacity store for consciously processing information for a temporary amount of time (has mostly replaced use of the term STM from the MSM)
‘Working’ suggests memory is active rather than passive like MSM suggests
Who created the WMM and why?
Baddely and Hitch (1974) suggested that STM wasn’t a unitary store and instead was an active processor, contradictory to MSM
What does the WMM look like?
Central Executive - on top
- Phonological Loop
a) articulatory control system
b) phonological store - Episodic Buffer
- Visuospatial Sketchpad
a) visual cache
b) inner scribe
What is the role of the central executive (CE)?
Supervisory role that doesn’t store info
What are the functions of the CE?
- Directs attention to tasks and makes decisions
- Allocates tasks to the slave systems
- Data arrives from senses or from LTM
What capacity does the CE have?
Very limited processing capacity
What is the role of the phonological loop (PL)?
Processes auditory info and codes it acoustically
What capacity does the PL have?
Limited - can hold approx. 2 seconds worth of info
What did Baddeley (1986) further subdivide the PL into?
- Phonological store - holds words heard
- Articulatory control system - inner voice (maintenance rehearsal)
What is the word length effect?
A list of long words is harder to remember than a list of short words. This is because longer words take longer to rehearse in our phonological loop than short ones (approx. 2 seconds worth of info) so get fewer rehearsals and are remembered less accurately
What is the role of the visuospatial sketchpad (VSS)?
Processes visual and spatial info
Visual - what things look like
Spatial - refers to the relationship between things
What did Logie (1995) suggest subdivisions of for the VSS?
- Visual cache - stores info about visual items, e.g form and colour
- Inner scribe - stores arrangement of objects for spatial relations
What capacity does the VSS have?
Limited capacity, 3-4 items
What is the dual task technique?
Performance is measured as ppts. perform 2 tasks simultaneously
Baddeley et al (1975) found when one store is utilised for both tasks performance is poorer (due to store’s limited capacity). If both tasks split between 2 stores, performance improves
What is the role of the episodic buffer (EB)?
Temporary store which integrates info from the other slave systems. Baddeley (2000) later added it as he realised model needed a more general store as slave systems process specific info and CE has no storage capacity
