The Working Memory Model Flashcards
What did Baddeley & Hitch (1974) argue about the LTM
They thought it was a passive store that only holds previously learned material to be used by STM when needed
What are the 4 components of the working memory model?
-> the central executive
-> the phonological loop
- the visuo-spatial sketchpad
-> (the episodic buffer, added 2000).
What’s the phonological loop
- composed of the phonological store & articulatory loop:
The phonological loop is the component of working memory that deals with spoken and written material
What is the phonological store
-> sometimes referred to as the ‘inner ear’
Linked to speech perception & holds information in speech based form (e.g. spoken words) for 1-2 seconds.
What is the articulatory loop
-> referred to as the inner voice
- linked to speech production and is used to rehearse and store verbal information from the phonological store, allowing maintenance rehearsal to occur
What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad
- it stores and processes information in a visual or spatial form, used for navigation.
-> sometimes referred to as the inner eye
What are the 2 sub components of the visuo-spatial sketchpad
- visual cache
- inner scribe
What does the visual cache store material about
Visual material about form and colour
What does the inner scribe do
Handle spatial relationships
What does the central executive do?
It drives the whole working memory system and allocates data to other components (slave systems)
-> it also deals with cognitive tasks (e.g reasoning, problem solving)
Individuals have a […] attentional capacity
Limited
Why are tasks automated
To make less attentional demands on the central executive, and leave us free to perform other tasks.
Why did Baddeley add the episodic buffer in 2000?
-> to show that there is a general storage:
This is as slave systems only deal with processing and temporary storage of specific information, while the central executive has no storage capacity.
What is the episodic buffer
The episodic buffer is a limited capacity store, integrating information from the central executive, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad, as well as from LTM.
Pros of the WMM
- supported by neurobiological evidence (Shallice and Warrington - 1970)
- supported by lab experiments (Baddeley et al 1975)
- practical application
How does the WMM have practical application
-> it has improved understanding of how people learn to read, and so has helped psychologists to assist those with dyslexia who can struggle with reading
What was Shallice & Warrington (1970) & their findings
-> KF case study: man who (bc of a motorbike accident = poor STM) for words that were presented verbally but not for words presented visually.
-> supports WMM idea that there is more than one type of STM.
-> In particular, shows that we have a type of STM for verbal tasks (phonological loop) and another for visual (visuo-spatial sketchpad)
What was Baddeley et al (1975)
- they gave participants brief visual presentations of lists of words, made up of either short or long words:
-> participants then asked to recall the list in the correct order
What were the results of Baddeley et al (1975)
-> participants recalled more short than long words (known as the word length effect)
-> supports idea that the phonological loop can hold as many items as can be said in 1.5 to 2 seconds rather than being limited by 7 (+/- 2) items like the MSM argues
Criticism of the WMM
- several psychologists think the idea of a central executive is vague and untestable, criticising the WMM for not being detailed enough
- one example is Damasio (1985)
What did Damasio do (1985)
-> presented the case of EVR who had a cerebral tumour removed. He had good reasoning skills, (suggesting his central executive was intact) but couldn’t make decisions, (suggesting his central executive was damaged).
-> this case study suggests that the central executive is more complicated than the WMM claims.
AO1 - Why was the WMM introduced
Due to the dual task effect, as they believed the STM wasn’t a unitary store
