The Working Memory Model (WMM) Flashcards
Baddeley and Hitch (1974) - the WMM
WMM is an explanation of the organisation and separate functions of the STM.
Concerned with the part of the brain which is active during certain tasks e.g. reading a book, playing chess, comprehending heard language
Central Executive - allocation of slave systems
The CE is an attentional function like the MSMs sensory register.
It monitors incoming environmental data/stimuli and allocates slave systems to process the memory.
It has a very limited capacity, as it doesn’t retain anything. It is exclusively concerned with monitoring and regulating data - it doesn’t retain anything
Phonological loop - the phonological store and the articulatory process
the PL is concerned with all auditory information and helps organise auditory information chronologically.
Phonological store: stores the words we hear
Articulatory process: concerned with maintenance rehearsal - repeating sounds to keep them in the memory until they are needed
Visuospatial sketch pad
Stores visual and spatial information when it is required e.g. knowledge of the layout of your house.
Logie (1995) subdivided the VSS:
Visual cache: stores all visual data
Inner scribe: record of spatial arrangements + objects within the visual field.
Episodic buffer - temporary storage
Added in 2000 - temporary store that integrates all forms of information from all other stores.
Time sequenced - records events that are happening (episodic)
Links to the LTM
✅ KF case study supports separate STM stores
Brain damaged patient KF had poor recall for verbal information (auditory) but normal recall for visual information.
Suggests his phonological loop was damaged but other areas remained functional. Supports separate visual and acoustic stores.
However - evidence from brain damaged patients may be unreliable as they are usually unique cases who have suffered traumatic experiences. We have no way of knowing how this trauma may have affected their cognition - and so it is difficult to generalise brain functioning in these patients to the general population.
✅Dual task performance studies support VSS
Baddeley et al (1975)
Pts had extreme difficulty in performing two visual tasks (tracking a light and describing the letter F). But could easily perform a visual and verbal task simultaneously.
Both visual tasks are competing to draw from the same store - so the functioning of both tasks is damaged. When doing a verbal and a visual task - there is no competition as the tasks draw from separate stores.
Strength as supports the separation of stores for visual and auditory information.
❌lack of clarity over CE
The Central Executive (CE) has been criticised by cognitive psychologists- who suggest it is vague and it’s functions are not clearly specified.
Weakness - as the WMM is not fully explained
✅support from brain scan studies
Braver et al (1997)
Performed tasks involving the CE whilst undergoing brain scans. Activity was observed in the prefrontal cortex.
Activity increased as task difficulty increases - suggests that as demands on the CE increase, it must work harder to fulfil its function.
Strength, as provides evidence for physical reality of CE
