The Working Memory Model Flashcards
Who developed the Working Memory Model?
Baddeley & Hitch (1974)
What did Baddeley and Hitch suggest about memory?
Short Term Memory isn’t a unitary store
Every component of the WMM has limited capacity
Each component is independent of the other
What are the 4 components of the working memory model?
Central executive
Phonological Loop
Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad
Episodic Buffer
What does the central executive do?
Overall control of Short Term Memory
Process info in all sensory forms
Does problem solving and decision making
Allocates tasks to each “slave system” depending on which one is needed
What does the phonological loop (inner ear) do?
Temporarily stores and rehearses word based info in the order it arrives - reading, listening and speaking
What are the 2 components of the phonological loop?
Phonological store (inner ear)
Articulatory Process (inner voice)
What does the phonological store (inner ear) do?
Hold info in speech-based form for 1-2 seconds
Written words must be covered to speech code before entering
What does the Articulatory process (inner voice) do?
Allows maintenance rehearsal of word-based information - circulates info again and again so we can remember it
What does the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad do?
Mental workplace for storing and manipulating a limited amount of visual and spatial information for a brief amount of time
HELPS US KEEP TRACK OF WHERE WE ARE IN RELATION TO OTHER OBJECTS
What are the 2 components of the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad?
Visual cache - stores visual data
Inner scribe - remembers the arrangement of objects in space (spatial awareness)
What does the episodic buffer do?
Backup store which sends info to the LTM and integrates spatial, verbal and visual info in the other subsystems
Records order in which events happen
What is the capacity and coding for the central executive?
Limited capacity
Non-specific modality (any sense)
What is the capacity and coding for the phonological loop?
Capacity is 1-2 seconds of speech
Acoustic coding
What is the capacity and coding for the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad?
3-4 objects
Visual coding
What is the capacity and coding for the episodic buffer?
About 4 chunks of capacity
Integrates visual, spatial and verbal info together
What was the Baddeley & Hitch study (1976)?
Also participants to do 2 tasks at the same time
- digit span task
- verbal reasoning task
More digit = slightly more time but no errors in verbal reasoning
Proves WMM allows for MULTITASKING
What are the strengths of the Working Memory Model?
Can account for dual tasking - Baddeley & Hitch (1976)
Accounts for case studies - KF & motorcycle
Brain scanning evidence - D’Esposito et al (1995)
Explains how we carry out everyday tasks better than the MSM
How does the KF study support the WMM?
Shallice & Warrington (1970) found:
KF motorcycle accident caused damage in in his STM
He struggled to process verbal information but visual memory was unaffected - suggests multiple components of STM
What did D’Esposito et al (1995) find?
Prefrontal cortex active during verbal and spatial tasks but not separately
Suggests this brain area involves the central executive
How does the WMM explain better than the MSM?
MSM says Short Term Memory is a unitary store
WMM explains the complexity of our Short Term Memory so it therefore has greater validity
What are the weaknesses of the Working Memory Model?
Central Executive not fully explained - Eslinger & Damasio (1985)
Only focuses on Short Term Memory
Supporting studies lack ecological validity (Baddeley & Hitch)
Evidence from case studies isn’t reliable
How is the role of central executive not fully explained?
Eslinger & Damasio (1985)
Patient had cerebral tumour removed
Performed well on reasoning tests
Bad decision making
His central executive was not wholly intact (central executive more complex)
Why is evidence from brain-damaged patients unreliable?
Concern single cases of people who had traumatic experiences
Cannot generalise findings to see how memory works for everyone as case studies are unique
Not everyone with memory problems has the same type of brain damage
How does the WMM only focus on the Short Term Memory?
The link between the WMM and Long Term Memory isn’t fully explained
WMM provides detail about Short Term Memory BUT not how info is processed & transferred from Short Term Memory to Long Term Memory
It is an incomplete model and needs to be completed
