The Working Model of Memory

Question 1

who came up with the WMM ?

Answer 1

Baddeley and Hitch

Question 2

what does the WMM explain ?

Answer 2

how short term memory is organised and how it functions

Question 3

what are the four main components of the WMM ?

Answer 3

1) central executive
2) phonological loop
3) visuo-spatial sketchpad
4) Episodic Buffer

Question 4

what is the central executive ?

Answer 4

• it focuses, divides and switches our attention

- it monitors incoming data, makes decisions and allocates slave sub-systems to tasks

Question 5

what is the weakness to the central executive ?

Answer 5

it has a very limited processing capacity and does not store information, even very briefly.

Question 6

what is the phonological loop ?

Answer 6

• one of the slave sub-systems
• deals with auditory information, i.e. sounds
• preserves the order in which information arrives

Question 7

what are the two subdivides of the Phonological loop ?

Answer 7

1) the Phonological Store - stores auditory information

2) the Articulatory Process - allows maintenance rehearsal

Question 8

what is maintenance rehearsal ?

Answer 8

repeating sounds or words in a ‘loop’ to keep them in the phonological store while they are needed.

Question 9

what is the capacity of the phonological loop ?

Answer 9

two seconds worth of what you can say

Question 10

what is the visuo-sketchpad ?

Answer 10

temporarily deals with visual/and or spatial information when required. e.g. if someone asks you for directions, you can visualise the route using your VSS.

Question 11

what are the two sub-divisions of the VSS ?

Answer 11

1) the Visual Cache - which stores visual data (e.g. images)
2) the Inner Scribe - records the arrangement of objects in the visual field. it is the process that allows you to rehearse visual/spatial information to keep it in the visual cache

Question 12

weakness of the VSS ?

Answer 12

limited capacity - can only hold three to four objects at a time.

Question 13

what is the episodic buffer ?

Answer 13

1) it is a temporary store that integrates the acoustic, visual and spatial information processed by the other sub-systems.
2) it maintains a sense of time sequencing, basically recording events that are happening.
3) it combines informations from other subsystems with long-term memory and links to wider cognitive processes such as perception.