The working memory model

Question 1

what does the working memory model explain

Answer 1

how STM memory is organised and how it functions

Question 2

what does the working memory model focus on

Answer 2

the part of the mind that is active when temporarily storing and manipulating info

Question 3

how many main components are in the working memory model

Answer 3

4

Question 4

what are the 4 main components in WMM

Answer 4

• central executive
• phonological loop
• visuo-spatial sketchpad
• episodic buffer

Question 5

what does the central executive monitor

Answer 5

the central executive monitors incoming data that makes decisions and allocates tasks to the slave systems

Question 6

what are the 3 slave systems -WMM

Answer 6

1. phonological loop
2. visuo-spatial sketchpad
3. episodic buffer

Question 7

what does the phonological look process

Answer 7

the phonological loop processes auditory info

Question 8

how is the phonological loop coded?

Answer 8

acoustically

Question 9

what is the phonological loop divided up into too?

Answer 9

1. phonological store - stores words you hear
2. articulatory process -acts like inner voice and rehearses info (capacity - 2 seconds)

Question 10

what does the visuo-spatial sketchpad process

Answer 10

the visuo-spatial sketchpad processes visual and spatial info

Question 11

what is the capacity of the visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 11

limited capacity - 3-4 objects

Question 12

what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad divided into

Answer 12

1. visual cache - stores visual data
2. inner scribe - records arrangement of objects in visual field

Question 13

what does the episodic buffer do?

Answer 13

• brings together material from subscription into one memory

Question 14

what is the capacity of the episodic buffer?

Answer 14

limited capacity of around 4 chunks

Question 15

what does the episodic buffer link together?

Answer 15

links the working memory and LTM together

Question 16

WMM - Evaluation -clinical evidence

Answer 16

-Shallice and Warrington (1970) studies patient KF with brain damage, KF had poor STM ability for verbal info but could process visual info
- suggests phonological loop was damaged, but not others

Question 17

WMM - Evaluation - dual task performance

Answer 17

• Baddeley et al (1975) showed participants had more difficulty doing 2 visual tasks than a visual and verbal task at same time - due to both visual competing over same subsytem

Question 18

WMM - Evaluation - lack of clarity over the central executive

Answer 18

• cognitive psychologists suggest the CE is most important yet least understood factor of the working memory

Question 19

WMM - Evaluation - studies of the word length effect support the phonological loop

Answer 19

• Baddeley (1975) demonstrated people find it harder to remember long words than short (called ‘word length effect’)

Question 20

WMM - Evaluation - brain scanning studies support the WMM

Answer 20

• Braver et al (1997) gave participants tasks that involved the CE during a brain scan - found activity in left prefrontal cortex that increased as tasks became harder