The Working Memory Model Flashcards
What does the phonological loop (PL) do
Subsystem processing auditory/verbal material
What does the Central Executive (CE) do
Controls working memory by monitoring incoming data, allocating limited attentional resources and subsystems to tasks
What are the subsections of the phonological loop (PL)
The phonological store and the articulatory control process
What is the role of the phonological store
Temporary storage of verbal material
What is the role of the articulatory control process
Maintenance rehearsal of verbal material
What does the visuospatial sketchpad (VSS) do
Processes visual and spatial information by storing (visual cache) and manipulating it (inner scribe).
What does the episodic buffer (EB) do
Integrates information processed in the other subsystems and links with LTM.
Who created the WMM
Baddeley and Hitch (1974) to replace the STM store from the MSM due to criticisms of the STM.
What were the criticisms of the STM
The STM must be more complex than just a single unitary store that only exists to pass information on to LTM.
What does the WMM propose
That memory is not just one store but a number of different stores
What does the WMM suggest about the LTM
The LTM is a passive store that holds previously learned material for use by the STM when needed.
What is the capacity of the central executive
limited in capacity (4 items)
What does the central executive control
Attention
What is the encoding type and duration of the executive control
Modality free (all encoding types) and unlimited duration
What is the encoding type and duration of the phonological loop
Auditory coded information and a capacity of what can be said in 2 seconds (word length effect)
What is the visual cache
A passive store of form and colour
What is the inner scribe
Active store holding the relationships between objects in 3D space
What is the purpose of the episodic buffer
Added to WMM in 2000, as the model needed a general store to hold and integrate information from the VSS, PL, CE and LTM
Evaluate the WMM in terms of research support (strength)
Dual task performance studies support the VSS. Baddeley et al.’s (1975) - p’s found it harder to carry out two visual tasks at the same time then do a verbal and visual task together. This is because both compete for the same subsystem. Therefore, there must be a sperate slave system that processes visual input (VSS) and also a separate system for verbal processes (PC).
Evaluate the WMM using a Case Study
Support from clinical evidence. Shallice and Warrington (1970) studied patient KF who had a brain injury. His STM for auditory information was poor (damaged PL) but he could process visual information normally. Therefore, supports there are separate visual and acoustic memory stores.
