The Working Memory Model

Question 1

What is the working-memory model?

Answer 1

a representation of how STM is organised & functions which suggests that the STM is a dynamic processor of different types of info using sub-units coordinated by a central decision-making system

Question 2

What is the central executive?

Answer 2

• an attentional process that monitors incoming data & coordinates the activities of the 3 sub-systems
• allocates processing resources to those activities

Question 3

What is the phonological loop?

Answer 3

• one of the sub-systems that deals with auditory information & preserves the order in which information arrives

Question 4

What are the 2 subdivisions of the phonological loop?

Answer 4

• phonological store: stores words you hear
• articulatory process: allows maintenance rehearsal - capacity of the ‘loop’ of words is believed to be 2 seconds worth of what you can say

Question 5

What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 5

• the second sub-system which stores visual and or/spatial info when needed
• has limited capacity according to Baddeley of around 3-4 objects

Question 6

What are the 2 subdivisions of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 6

• visual cache: stores visual data
• inner scribe: records arrangement of objects in the visual field

Question 7

What is the episodic buffer?

Answer 7

• third sub-system which is a temporary store of info
• integrates visual, spatial & verbal info processed by other stores & maintains a sense of time sequencing by recording events that are happening
• can be seen as storage component of central executive
• has limited capacity of around 4 chunks according to Baddeley
• episodic buffer links working memory to LTM & wider cognitive processes like perception

Question 8

Evaluation: Clinical evidence

Answer 8

• Shallice & Warrington’s case study on patient KF supports the WWM
• KF suffered brain damage and as a result had poor STM ability for verbal info but could process visual info normally
• he had difficulty with sounds but recalled numbers & letters
• suggests that phonological loop had been damaged whilst other memory stores were unaffected
• supports idea of separate visual & acoustic stores
• however evidence from brain-damaged patients may not be completely reliable since they are unique cases with patients who have had traumatic experiences

Question 9

Evaluation: Dual task performance

Answer 9

• studies of dual-task performance support existence of separate visuo-spatial sketchpad
• Baddeley showed that pps had more difficulty carrying out 2 visual tasks compared to a visual and verbal task
• reason for increased difficulty is because both visual tasks compete for the same sub-system whilst 2 sub-systems are being used for visual & verbal tasks since they are separate - no competition
• this means there must be separate sub-system that process visual information (the VSS)

Question 10

Evaluation: Lack of clarity over the central executive

Answer 10

• cognitive psychologists suggest that the central executive doesn’t really explain anything
• the central executive needs to more specified rather than just being ‘attention’
• psychologists believe that it may consist of separate components
• Baddeley recognised this by saying it is the “least understood component of working memory”
• this means that the WMM hasn’t been fully explained

Question 11

Evaluation: Brain scanning studies support the WMM

Answer 11

• Braver et al (1997) gave pps tasks that involved central executives whilst their brains were being scanned
• researchers found greater activity in prefrontal cortex which increased as task become harder
• in terms of WMM, as demands on central executive increase it works harder to fulfil its function