the working memory model Flashcards
who came up with the working memory model?
baddeley and hitch, 1974
what idea does the working memory model replace?
idea that STM is just one store arguing the MSM is too simplistic
what are the 4 parts of the working memory model?
● central executive
● the phonological loop
● the visuo-spatial sketchpad (the inner eye)
● the episodic buffer
what is the central executive? (4)
● controller / boss of model and most important part
● focuses and switches attention (deciding what to pay attention to and what to ignore)
● controls and coordinates operations of other slave systems / components - passing on relevant info to be processed by those areas
● limited capacity (can not attend to too many things at once)
what is the phonological loop? (2)
● responsible for processing sound based (auditory / acoustic) information
● split into the phonological store (inner ear) and the articulatory process (inner voice)
what is the phonological store (inner ear)?
stores the words you hear for a few seconds before they fade (limited capacity)
what is the articulatory process? (2)
● used during maintenance rehearsal to repeat sounds / words in a loop over-and-over keeps info in working model while it is needed
● limited capacity - linked to how long it takes to say something (thought to hold enough information to fit into 2 seconds)
what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad (inner eye)? (2)
● split into 2 parts: visual cache and inner scribe
● limited capacity (3-4 objects)
what is the visual cache? (2)
● deals with and stores visual data
● i.e. what objects look like such as their shape, colour etc
what is the inner scribe? (2)
● deals with spatial awareness (i.e. the arrangement of objects in locations and your movement within this space)
● for example, it is involved in planning and moving your way through a busy shopping centre
what is the episodic buffer? (2)
● brings together material from all other slave systems into a single memory store
● also provides a link between working memory to LTM - transferring info to and taking info from LTM
what is the duel-task method? (3)
● when we try and do 2 simple things that require similar processing at the same time, we cannot do it / find it very difficult
● i.e. we cannot complete 2 visual tasks at the same time or 2 tasks that require verbal / acoustic coding
● but we can do something requiring both verbal / acoustic processing (i.e. repeating a list of numbers) and visual processing (i.e. working if A comes before B) at the same time
