The Working Memory Model Flashcards
Who were the psychologists that proposed the working memory model?
The working memory model was proposed by Baddeley and Hitch
What did Baddeley and Hitch propose about the short term memory?
Baddeley and Hitch proposed that the short term memory is made up of several different stores, with different functions
What are the four components involved in the working memory model?
1) The central executive area
2) The phonological loop area
3) The visuo - spatial sketchpad
4) The episodic buffer
What is the central executive?
The central executive is essentially an attentional process that monitors incoming data, makes decisions and allocates slave systems to tasks
What is a feature of the central executive?
The central executive has a very limited processing capacity
What is the phonological loop?
The phonological loop deals with auditory information and preserves the order in which the information arrives
The phonological loop is subdivided into two divisions. What are these two divisions?
The phonological store and the articulatory process
What is the phonological store?
The phonological store is where the words we hear are stored
What is the articulatory process?
The articulatory process allows maintenance rehearsal and acts as the inner voice
What is capacity of the maintenance rehearsal within the articulatory process?
The capacity of the loop is believed to be two seconds worth of what is said
What is the visuo - spatial sketchpad?
The visuo - spatial sketchpad store visual or spatial information, with a limited capacity
What is the limited capacity of the visuo - spatial sketchpad?
The limited capacity of the visuo - spatial sketchpad stores about three or four objects
What is the visuo - spatial sketchpad subdivided into?
The visuo - spatial sketchpad is subdivided into the visual cache and the inner scribe
What is the visual cache?
The visual cache stores visual data
What is the inner scribe?
The inner scribe records the arrangement of objects in the visual field
What is the episodic buffer?
The episodic buffer is a temporary store for information, integrating the visual, spatial and verbal information processed by other stores. It also records events happening, making sense of them
What is a common feature of all the stores?
A common feature of all the stores is they have a limited capacity
What is a strength of the working memory model? (Shallice + Warrington case study)
There is supporting evidence from Shallice and Warrington. They had studied a patient named KF who suffered from amnesia because of a motorcycle accident. His long term memory was left intact but his short term memory could only deal with new spatial and not verbal information. This case study supports the existence of separate stores for visual and acoustic information. Based on the working memory model, his visuo - spatial sketchpad had remained undamaged but his phonological loop store had been affected by the crash. However, this study lacks generalisability and ecological validity as it focuses on one person’s unique situation
What is strength of the working memory model? (study of dual task performance)
Studies of dual task performance support the separate existence of the visuo - spatial sketchpad. Baddeley et al showed that participants had more difficulty doing two visual tasks than doing both a visual and verbal task at the same time. This increase difficulty is because both visual tasks compete for the same slave system whereas, when doing a verbal and visual tasks simultaneously, there is no competition. This means there must be a separate slave system that processes visual input.
What is a counterpoint to Baddeley et al’s lab experiment ? (practice effects/demand characteristics)
A counterpoint of Baddeley et al is the risks of practice effects due to the use of the repeated measures design. There is also low ecological validity due to the use of lab experiments. Additionally, participants may have realised the aim of the study and demand characteristics may appear
What is a limitation of the working memory model? (lack of clarity within the model)
The working memory model lacks clarity when explaining the central executive compartment of the brain. Psychologists have suggested that this is the least understood component of the model. It needs to be more clearly defined and specified because some psychologists believe that it may consist of more separate components. This reduces the internal validity of the model as it is not fully and accurately explained
What is a strength of the working memory model? (brain scan supportive evidence)
Brain scans have been found to provide supportive evidence for the working memory model. Brover et al gave participants tasks that involved the central executive whilst undergoing a brain scan. There was a higher level of activity in the left prefrontal cortex. Activity levels increased as the tasks became more difficult. This shows there is scientific evidence to show that the central executive exists
