The Working Memory Model

Question 1

What is working memory?

Answer 1

An explanation of how STM is organised and how it functions. It is concerned with the mental space that is active when we temporarily store and manipulate information.

Question 2

What is the role of the central executive?

Answer 2

Has a supervisory role and monitors incoming information into the brain. It divides our limited attention and allocates subsystems to tasks.

Question 3

How does the central executive code?

Answer 3

Modality free.

Question 4

What is the capacity of the central executive?

Answer 4

Limited.

Question 5

What does the phonological loop do?

Answer 5

Deals with auditory information and preserves the order that information arrives into the brain.

Question 6

What are the 2 sub divisions of the phonological loop?

Answer 6

Phonological store
Articulatory process

Question 7

What does the phonological store do?

Answer 7

Stores the words we hear

Question 8

What does the articulatory process do?

Answer 8

Allows for maintenance rehearsal and keeps words in the loop while needed.

Question 9

How does the phonological loop code?

Answer 9

Acoustically

Question 10

What is the capacity of the articulatory process?

Answer 10

2 seconds of information.

Question 11

What does the visuospatial sketchpad do?

Answer 11

Stores visual and spatial information. Allows us to picture things.

Question 12

What 2 subsystems does the visuospatial sketchpad divide into?

Answer 12

Visual cache
Inner scribe

Question 13

What does the visual cache do?

Answer 13

Stores visual data

Question 14

What does the inner scribe do?

Answer 14

Records the arrangement of objects in the visual field.

Question 15

How does the visuospatial sketchpad code?

Answer 15

Visually.

Question 16

What is the capacity of the visual spatial sketchpad?

Answer 16

3-4 Objects

Question 17

What does the episodic buffer do?

Answer 17

Temporarily stores information received from the central executive.

Question 18

What 4 things does the episodic buffer integrate to produce what?

Answer 18

Visual, spatial, verbal, time frequency sense and records episodes around us

Question 19

The episodic buffer links information from the rest of working memory to what?

Answer 19

LTM

Question 20

How does the episodic buffer code?

Answer 20

Modality free.

Question 21

What is the capacity of the episodic buffer?

Answer 21

4 Chunks of information.

Question 22

Explain the strength that there is research support for the working memory model from Shallice and Warrington and their case study on KF.
Was KFs recall of letters better when he read himself or heard the words?
What does this suggest about his phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad?

Answer 22

After a brain injury, KF had poor STM ability for sound but could still process visual information. For example, his recall of letters and digits was better when he read them himself, but he struggled to recall them when he heard them verbally (acoustically). This means that his phonological loop would have been damaged but his visuospatial sketchpad would have been intact. This provides evidence for the different memory stores for acoustic and visual information.

Question 23

Explain the strength that research from Baddeley provides evidence for different STM stores, such as the visuospatial sketchpad.
Use the example of how his PPTs did a visual and verbal task at the same time successfully, but struggled to do 2 visual tasks at the same time.

Answer 23

When Baddeley’s PPTs carried out a visual and verbal task at the same time, their performance on each task was similar to how they would perform at each of the tasks seperately. However, when they performed 2 visual tasks at the same time, they struggled. This is because both visual tasks compete for the attention of the visual spatial sketchpad. But PPTs find it easier to perform a visual and a verbal task together because there is no competition for each of the separate subsystems. This proves that there is more than one STM store.

Question 24

Explain the limitation that not much is understood about the central executive.
What have some critics said the central executive might contain instead?
How does the central executive affect the integrity of the working memory model?

Answer 24

The central executive is described as ‘attention’ for the working memory model, however, some psychologists argue that it contains several sub components. No one truly knows the full nature of the central executive, meaning that further research must be done to be able to define whether there is more than one sub component of it, as suggested by critics. This means that the central executive is an unsatisfactory component of the working memory model and challenges its integrity.

Question 25

Explain the limitation that we are unsure of the working memory models validity.
Where is research surrounding the working memory model often carried out?
What are the issues with the tasks carried out in these settings?

Answer 25

Previously, we have seen that dual task studies support the working memory model because its hard to perform tasks that require the same sub system. However, this research involved artificial tasks that were carried out in lab conditions, therefore, research may not be applicable to real life.