WMM ( b+h) 1974 Flashcards
how would you draw the WMM - description
central executive
phonological loop- phonological store and articulatory process
visuo spatial sketchpad
what can the WMM be used for/ not useful
remembering phone numbers,lists,mental maths
fragile can go wrong due to distraction,overload,overwork
how was the WMM developed
B and H felt MSM was too simplisitic, emphasis of rehearsal was incorrect and STM isnt a unitary store and it’s more complex and active WORKING MEMORY
what is the central executive
running of memory systems- decides what we apy attention to, relates info to LTM
eg Baddeley uses metaphor of company boss to amke decisions as to what we pay attention to and strategies on how to deal with and can only do a limited n.o of things and collect info from different stores
what is the phonological loop
phonological store- linked to speech perception holding info in speech based form for 1-2 seconds (inner ear)
articulatory system - speech production used to rehearse and store verbal info by repeating info over and over (inner voice)
what is the visual spatial sketchpad
proceses visual and spatial info to do with images, positions and locations
helping with navigation and spatial awareness
displays and manipluates visual and spatial info in our LTM - visual cache stores visual data and inner scribe records and arrages in the visual field
issues and debates in the WMM
psych as a science- leb based research w controls, BUT central exec is theoretical with limited experimental support as it’s abstract and not directly testable/ falsifiable and and empirical data cannot be collected
psych knowledge- helps identify kids with memory issues
research supporting WMM
shown in dual tasks experiments eg Baddley et al found ppts performed a visual and verbal task together and their performance was no worse when carried out sep
baddley and hitch- dual task using VSSP performance was impaired- asked to track location of moving light whole imagining letter F struggled to do both at the same time suing VSSP ofr both tasks were competing for resources of VSSP
robbins et al remember and replicate chess positions using VSSP and found completing task w another used VSSP performance was worse than a task that used phonological looop to replicate chess positions
KF impaired STM after a motorcycle accident which damaged parietal lobe and had a digit span of 1 impairment to phono loop but good visual store
methodology WMM
lab exp often used- standardised procedures so replicated in different circumstances- researcher can manipulate IV and see imapct on DV and infer cause and effect increases scientific cred eg baddely research investigates effect of acoustic and semantic sim for word sequence
can be seen as reductionist eg baddeley and hitch dual task exp uses artificial tasks due to artificial anture of the task so wont reflect how memory works in everyday life
incomplete - how central exec works, or LTM and episodic buffer added in 2000 valdiity overall reduced
applications of WMM
strategies to improve memory eg dont do two tasks that involve using the same slave systems
similarities of wmm and msm
evidence from case studies eg HM and KF
useful applciations e in education and indentifying those with alzheimers
low eco validity eg peterson and baddeley
