the working memory model

Question 1

central executive

Answer 1

an attentional process that monitors incoming data, makes designs and allocates slave systems tasks .
VERY LIMITED PROCESSING CAPACITY

Question 2

phonological loop

Answer 2

deals with auditory information and preserves the order in which the information arrives
- phonological store
stores the words you hear
- articulatory process
allows maintenance rehearsal or words in a ‘loop’s keep them in the working memory.
CAPACITY OF LOOP IS 2 SECONDS

Question 3

visuo spatial sketchpad

Answer 3

store visual or spatial info
LIMITED CAPACITY
Baddely 2003 says its around 3-4 objects
Logie 1995
- visual cache
stores visual data
- inner scribe
records the arrangements of objects in the visual field

Question 4

episodic buffer

Answer 4

added by baddely in 2000
temporary store for information , visual spatial and verbal information
maintains a sense of time sequencing
CAPACITY OF 4 CHUNKS according to baddely 2012

Question 5

clinical evidence
strength

Answer 5

Shallice and Warrington’s 1970
kf had brain damage
had poor stm ability for verbal info but could process visual info normally
suggests his phonological loop could be damaged leaving other areas of the memory intact
supports the existence of a separate visual and acoustic store , brain damage patients unreliable as have unique cases

Question 6

dual task performance
strength

Answer 6

studies of the dual task performance support the separate existence of the visuo spatial sketchpad
Baddely et al 1975
showed that participants had more difficulty doing two visual tasks than doing a visual and verbal task at the same time
increased difficulty is because both visual tasks compete for the same slave system where as visual and verbal there is no competition
- means there is a seprate slave system (the vss) that processes visual input

Question 7

lack of clarity over the central executive
weakness

Answer 7

cognitive physiologists suggest that this component of the model is unsatisfactory
baddely 2003 even said “most important but least understood component”
needs to be more clearly specified then just being simply for attention .

Question 8

brain scanning studies
strength

Answer 8

braver et al 1997
gave their participants tasks that involved the central executive while they were having a brain scan .
researchers found greater activity in the prefrontal context
activity increased as tasks became harder
makes sense in terms of wmm as demands on the ce increases it has to work harder to fulfil its function

Question 9

studies of the word length effect support the phonological loop
strength

Answer 9

baddely et al 1975
demonstrated that people find it more difficult to remember a list of long words rather than short words
word length effect , because there is a finite space for rehearsal in the articulatory process
the word length effect disappears if a person is given an articulatory suppression task