WMM

Question 1

working memory model

Answer 1

baddeley and hitch
- the part in your memory you’re using when you are working on something

Question 2

examples of working memory

Answer 2

calculating a complex sum or reading a sentence

Question 3

why is STM not just one single store

Answer 3

• if you do 2 things at the same time, and are both tasks of the same sort, then you will perform them less well
• if you do 2 things at once and one task is visual and the other involves sound, then there is no interference
• you do them as well simultaneously as you would seperately
• so suggests that we have 1 store for visual processing and 1 for processing sounds as the WMM suggests

Question 4

the central executive

Answer 4

• overall control of other 3 slave systems
• directs attention to a particular task and monitors incoming data
• makes decisions and allocates data to each slave system dependent on data type
• very limited capacity, cannot attend to too many things at once and has no capacity for storing information or data

Question 5

the phonological loop

Answer 5

• deals with auditory info and preserves the order in which info arrives
• has a limited capacity and coding is acoustic

Question 6

two subdivides of the phonological loop

Answer 6

• the phonological store
• the articulatory process

Question 7

the phonological store

Answer 7

passive store of words you hear in your inner ear

Question 8

the articulatory loop

Answer 8

active rehearsal system-allows maintenance rehearsal, capacity of the loop is believed to be 2 seconds of what you can say-known as inner voice

Question 9

the visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 9

• stores visual and spatial info
• visual info is what things look like; spatial info is the relationship between things
• capacity is approximately between 3-4 objects

Question 10

two subdivides of visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 10

• visual cache
• inner scribe

Question 11

visual cache

Answer 11

stores visual data

Question 12

inner scribe

Answer 12

records the arrangement of objects in the visual field

Question 13

episodic buffer

Answer 13

• added later to the original model
• temporary store for information integrating verbal, visual and spatial info
• integrates from CE,VSS, PL
• it maintains a sense of time sequencing
• limited capacity; 4 chunks
• sends info to LTM

Question 14

limitation: little information

Answer 14

• little information provided about the functioning of the central executive
• it has limited capacity but does not explain what the limitations are
• it is a modality free processing component but precise details have not been provided

Question 15

limitation: no clear explanation

Answer 15

• no clear explanation of how the three working memory components interact together

Question 16

strength: braver et. al

Answer 16

• gave pts tasks that involved the CE while having brain scans
• found greater activity in pre-frontal cortex, this activity also increased as the task became harder
• this makes sense in terms of the WMM as when demands on the CE increase, it has to work harder to fulfil its function

Question 17

limitation: notion of single CE is wrong

Answer 17

• critics say the notion of a single CE is wrong and there are probably several components within it
• Eslinger and Dmasio
  > studied EVR, who had a cerebral tumor removed, performed well on tests requiring reasoning suggesting CE was in tact
  » however, poor decision making skills, which conversely suggests CE was not wholly in tact