the working memory model Flashcards
who developed the wmm?
Baddeley and Hitch
what does the wmm build on/improve?
- the msm
- in particular, the msm’s model of STM.
- wmm replaces the idea of a unitary STM
what does the wmm suggest the STM is made up of?
- central executive
- phonological loop
- visuo-spatial sketchpad
- episodic buffer
what is the central executive?
- drives the system and decides how attention is directed ‘attentional process’
- allocates the 3 slave systems to tasks
what are the features of the central executive?
- no storage capacity
- limited processing capacity
what is the phonological loop?
- processes auditory info
made up of 2 sub-stores; phonological store + articulatory process - phonological store: stores the words you hear
- articulatory process: allows maintenance rehearsal
what are the features of the phonological loop?
- capacity of about 2 seconds
- research suggests the capacity of the phonological loop is limited to how long words are rather than how many words there are
what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
- stores visual and spatial info
made up of 2 sub-stores; visual cache + inner scribe - visual cache: stores visual data
- inner scribe: records arrangement of objects in visual field
what are the features of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
- the capacity of the VSS is around 4-5 chunks
what is the episodic buffer?
- integrates all types of data processed by the other stores (e.g. auditory, visual, spatial)
- is described as the storage component of the central executive, as well as being crucial for linking STM to LTM.
what are the features of the episodic buffer?
- limited capacity of 4 chunks
evaluation: clinical evidence support (KF)
ID: a strength of the WMM is that there is clinical evidence to support it
Q: this evidence comes from Shallice and Warrington’s study of KF, which provides support for the WMM having separate STM components
EX: for example, KF suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident, that damaged his STM. KF’s impairment was mainly for verbal info, yet his memory for visual info was largely unaffected
AN: this is a strength as it supports the WMM’s central idea that there are separate STM components for visual and verbal info (VSS + phonological loop)
evaluation: little known about central executive
ID: however, a limitation of the wmm is that the central executive has not been precisely defined
Q: this means that despite evidence to support the existence of separate visual and verbal STM stores, there is little evidence to understand the central executive
EX: for example, we are unsure of its capacity and process, some argue that it acts as a cover for all the functions that cannot be explained by the slave systems
AN: this is a weakness as a lack of a comprehensive explanation for each component of WMM draws doubts about the accuracy of its depiction of working memory
evaluation: further support from dual-task research
ID: a positive of the WMM is that there is further support a non-unitary STM, from ‘dual-task’ research
Q: this means that the WMM, unlike the msm, can explain why ppt’s struggle to process 2 similar tasks at once, but can process 2 different tasks at once.
EX: for example, evidence for this comes from Baddeley, who found that ppt’s had more difficulty doing 2 visual tasks at once (tracking a light and imagining a capital ‘F’), than doing 1 verbal and 1 visual task at the same time
AN: this is a strength as it suggests there must be separate slave systems for visual and verbal tasks, e.g. the visuo-spatial sketchpad and phonolgical loop.
