the working memory model

Question 1

What is the Working Memory Model (WMM)?

Answer 1

A representation of STM that suggests it is a dynamic processor of different types of information using sub-units coordinated by a central decision-making system.

Question 2

What does the Central Executive (CE) do in the WMM?

Answer 2

It coordinates the activities of the three subsystems in memory and allocates processing resources to those activities.

Question 3

What is the Phonological Loop (PL)?

Answer 3

The component of the WMM that processes information in terms of sound, including both written and spoken material.

Question 4

What are the two parts of the Phonological Loop?

Answer 4

The phonological store and the articulatory process.

Question 5

What is the Visuo-spatial Sketchpad (VSS)?

Answer 5

The component of the WMM that processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called the ‘inner eye’.

Question 6

What is the Episodic Buffer (EB)?

Answer 6

The component of the WMM that integrates material from the other subsystems into a single memory and bridges working memory with long-term memory.

Question 7

What is the Dual-task technique?

Answer 7

Methods used to measure the performance of the different slave systems of the WMM while participants perform two tasks simultaneously.

Question 8

Who developed the Working Memory Model?

Answer 8

Baddeley and Hitch in 1974.

Question 9

What was a criticism of Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Multi-Store Model (MSM)?

Answer 9

It was criticized for over-simplifying STM and LTM as a single storage system.

Question 10

How does the WMM view STM?

Answer 10

As an ‘active’ store that holds several pieces of information while they are being worked on.

Question 11

What is the role of the Central Executive in attention management?

Answer 11

It acts as a filter to determine which information received by the sense organs is attended to.

Question 12

What did Baddeley (1996) discover about task performance?

Answer 12

Participants found it difficult to generate lists of random numbers while simultaneously switching between pressing numbers and letters on a keyboard.

Question 13

What does CE stand for in the context of cognitive resources?

Answer 13

CE stands for Central Executive, which is limited in capacity and can only cope with one type of information at a time.

Question 14

What did D’ Esposito et al. (1995) find regarding the prefrontal cortex?

Answer 14

They found that the prefrontal cortex was activated when verbal and spatial tasks were performed simultaneously, suggesting its association with the Central Executive.

Question 15

What is the Phonological Loop (PL)?

Answer 15

The PL temporarily retains language-based information in auditory form and holds the amount of information that can be spoken out loud in two seconds.

Question 16

What are the components of the Phonological Loop?

Answer 16

The PL consists of an articulatory process and the phonological store.

Question 17

What is the role of the articulatory control process?

Answer 17

It allows maintenance rehearsal, converting visually presented language into a phonological state through subvocal repetition.

Question 18

What does the phonological store do?

Answer 18

The phonological store holds auditory speech information and the order in which it was heard.

Question 19

What did Trojani and Grossi (1995) report about the Phonological Loop?

Answer 19

They reported a case study of SC, who had brain damage affecting the functioning of his PL but not his VSS, suggesting the PL is a separate system.

Question 20

What is the word length effect?

Answer 20

The word length effect is where participants recalled more short words in serial order than longer words, supporting the idea that the capacity of the PL is determined by how long it takes to say words.

Question 21

What does the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (VSS) do?

Answer 21

The VSS temporarily retains visual and spatial information and can hold 3 or 4 objects at one time.

Question 22

What are the components of the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad?

Answer 22

The VSS consists of the visual cache, which stores visual information about form and color, and the inner scribe, which deals with spatial relationships.

Question 23

What did Klauer and Zhao (2004) find regarding visual tasks?

Answer 23

They reported more interference between two visual tasks than between a visual and spatial task, implying the existence of a separate visual cache and inner scribe.

Question 24

What did Gathercole and Baddeley (1993) find about task performance?

Answer 24

They found that participants had difficulty simultaneously tracking a moving point of light and describing the angle on a hollow letter F, indicating both tasks used the VSS.

Question 25

What does the research by Gathercole and Baddeley (1993) suggest about the VSS?

Answer 25

It suggests that the VSS is a separate slave system, as participants had little difficulty in tracking the light while performing a simultaneous verbal task.

Question 26

What is the Episodic Buffer (EB)?

Answer 26

The Episodic Buffer integrates information from other stores, maintaining a sense of time sequencing and can hold 4 chunks of information.

Question 27

What did Prabhakaran et al. (2000) find regarding the EB?

Answer 27

They found greater right-frontal brain activation for combined verbal and spatial information, providing biological evidence of an EB for temporary storage of integrated information.

Question 28

What did Alkhalifa (2009) report about a patient with impaired LTM?

Answer 28

The patient demonstrated a STM capacity of 25 items, suggesting the existence of an EB that holds items in working memory until recalled.

Question 29

What is the dual-task technique?

Answer 29

It measures performance as participants perform two tasks simultaneously, providing evidence for different, limited capacity STM stores.

Question 30

What happens when one store is utilized for both tasks in a dual-task?

Answer 30

Task performance is poorer than when completed separately due to the store’s limited capacity.

For example, repeating ‘the the the’ aloud and reading text silently uses the articulatory-phonological loop for both tasks.

Question 31

What happens when tasks require different stores in a dual-task?

Answer 31

Performance is unaffected when performing them simultaneously.

For example, repeating ‘the the the’ aloud while performing a reasoning task or following a visual mobile stimulus.

Question 32

What is known about the central executive (CE)?

Answer 32

Little is known about how it works, and its vagueness allows it to explain various experimental results.

Question 33

What is argued if two tasks can be performed simultaneously?

Answer 33

It is argued that they do not exceed the capacity of the central executive.

Question 34

What is Dysexecutive Syndrome?

Answer 34

A disorder of functions such as decision-making and attention switching.

Question 35

What did Braver et al. (1997) find regarding the Central Executive (CE)?

Answer 35

As the merit of the task increased, the activity in the left prefrontal cortex also increased.

Question 36

What do PET scans show about brain activation during tasks?

Answer 36

Different brain areas are activated when doing verbal and visual tasks, suggesting that the Phonological Loop (PL) and the Visuospatial Sketchpad (VSS) are separate slave systems.

Question 37

What does the activation of the left hemisphere indicate?

Answer 37

It supports visual tasks, while activation in the right hemisphere supports spatial tasks.

Question 38

What criticism does the VSS face?

Answer 38

It implies that all spatial information is first visual, which is contradicted by the spatial awareness of blind people.

Question 39

What did Lieberman (1980) point out about blind people?

Answer 39

Blind people have excellent spatial awareness, even if they have never had any visual information.

Question 40

What does the case study of patient KF suggest?

Answer 40

KF had poor STM ability for verbal information but could process visual information normally, suggesting damage to his PL but not his VSS.

Question 41

What is a criticism of case study evidence supporting the WMM?

Answer 41

Evidence from brain-damaged patients may not be accurate due to unique cases and traumatic experiences.

Question 42

How does brain damage affect the WMM?

Answer 42

The WMM in brain-damaged patients may differ from those who have not experienced brain damage, reducing the ability to generalize findings.