The Working Memory Model Flashcards
The working memory model
A representation of short term memory, suggesting that the STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using subunits co-ordinated by a central decision-making system
Central executive
The component of the WMM that co-ordinates the activities of the three subsystems in the memory. It allocated processing resources to those activities
Phonological loop
The component of the WMM that processes information in terms of sound. This includes written and spoken material. It is divided into the phonological store and the articulary process
Visio-spatial sketchpad
The component of the WMM that processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called the inner eye
The episodic buffer
The component of the WMM that brinds together material from the other subsystems into a single memory rather than seperate strands. It also provides a bridge between working memory and long-term meory
Central executive capacity and storing
Very limited capacity and doesnt store information
What is the coding in the phonological loop?
Acoustic
What is the PL divided into?
The phonological store, and the articulatory process
The phonological store
Stores words we hear
The articulatory process
Allows the mainteneace rehearsal
What is the capacity o the articulatory process?
Two seconfd worth of words
Visual casge
Stored visual data
Inner scribe
Records the arrangement of objects in the visual field
Who added the episodic buffer to the WMM?
Baddeley in 2000
What is the capacity of the episodic buffer?
Four chunks
KF case study
After his brain injury, KF’s STM had low ability for auditory information but he could process visual information normally. His phonoliogical loop was damaged but his visio-spatial sketchpad was intact
What did the KF findings support?
Seperate visual and acoustic memory stores
What are the limitations of the KF study?
It is uncleaer wether KF had other cognitive impairment wich might have affected his performance on the memory tasks
Baddeley’s dual-task study 1975
Participants carried out a visual and verbal task at the time. Their performance was similar when they did the tasks separately. However, when the tasks were both visual or both verbal tasks use the same slave subsystem, and when there is one of each task, they are using a different slave subsystem
What did Baddeley’s dual-task study show?
There must be seperate slave systems that process visual input and verbal input
What are the limitations of the dual-task study?
The Study tasks lacked mundane realism
Who developed the WMM
Baddeley and hitch
What process does the central executive use?
Focusing and dividing and switching information
