The Working Memory Model Flashcards
The Working Memory Model
Baddeley and Hitch 1974
What does it focus on?
The working memory model focuses on Short-Term Memory and consists of a CENTRAL EXECUTIVE (working memory model) and two slave system
- Phonological loop
- Visuo-spatial sketchpad
Verbal (STM) - Visual
- Two stores of memory
The Central Executive
The Central Executive is used in any task that requires attention. It holds information from any of our senses.
The Phonological loop
- Holds verbal information (so is used in any speech based task)
- It is often split into two: The Phonological store (inner ear) and articulatory process (inner voice)
- Used in tasks like repeating a phone number so you don’t forget it or trying to remember what a teacher has just said.
- Auditory information
The Visuo-spatial Sketchpad
- is used in any task that requires visual information or spatial awareness.
- Driving
- Walking
- Playing a computer game
The Working Memory Model
LOOK AT THE FLOWCHART
- The Episodic Buffer added in 2000 becuase of criticisms of the model: extra storage, added because it can deal with all information from all systems.
So Components of working memory (part one)
CENTRAL EXECUTIVE:
- Directs attention to particular tasks. It controls the other systems by determining how resources will be allocated. (Think a control tower at an airport)
PHONOLOGICAL LOOP
- Controls auditory information. Further subdivided into the phonological store (inner ear) and articulatory process (inner voice).
So Components of working memory (part two)
VISUO-SPATIAL PAD:
- Processes visual and spatial information (how things look and where they are).
EPISODIC BUFFER:
- General store. Added later to the model to account for things that use both visual and acoustic information and draws on long term memory.
Thing that the system are used for:
PHONOLOGICAL LOOP:
- Sudko
VISUO-SPATIAL SKETCH PAD
- Describing someones face
CENTRAL EXECUTIVE
- Reading uses the Phonological loop
Support for the model comes from
- Baddeley and Hitch who found through using interference tasks that:
- If two tasks require the same component they can’t be performed at the same time
- You can’t perform two tasks that require the phonological loop at the same time
- You can’t perform two tasks that require the visuo-spatial sketchpad at the same time
Baddeley and Hitch
- They also found that when two tasks involve different parts of working memory performance on those tasks does not suffer
- These findings support the existence of the different sub-components of working memory as proposed by the model
Further support comes from Patients with Brain Damage
- There is evidence from studies on patients with brain damage which supports the working memory model
The Case of KF
- In the 1970s, KF was in a motorcycle accident, resulting in brain damage to his left accipitatal lobe (pictured right).
- STM was damaged (digit span of 1), but LTM was normal
- He remembers words better if presented visually as opposed to auditorally.
KF’s Memory
- Although his LTM is intact, his STM is not, which supports the Multi-Store Memory Model.
- However, he remembers words better if presented visually rather than auditorally, which supports the Working Memory Model.
- This suggests that his damage mainly affected the phonological loop as he appeared to be able to use the visuo-spatial sketch pad.
Patients with Brain Damage continued
- However, there are a number of limitations associated with studies of patients with brain damage.
- Most studies on the effects of brain damage are case studies; whilst case studies provide a lot of detail, the subjects may have unique characteristics which mean that they are not representatives of anyone else (low EV)
- It is also not possible to make before and after comparisons of their memory deficits
- The trauma of the brain injury may have resulted in numerous changes in behaviour
