Working Memory Flashcards
What is working memory?
Working memory refers to the system necessary to keep information in mind while performing complex tasks such as reasoning, comprehension, and learning (Baddeley, 2010).
What are the key functions of working memory?
To hold information temporarily for tasks such as reasoning, comprehension, learning, and even daydreaming or simple thinking.
What does the Modal Model of Memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968) propose?
It suggests multiple memory stores, where information passes between stores via attention, encoding, and retrieval. Information is maintained in short-term memory via rehearsal.
What is a problem with the Modal Model of Memory?
The model assumes only one short-term store, and the duration an item spends in short-term memory dictates its storage in long-term memory. However, patients with selective damage to the short-term store still maintain comprehension and problem-solving abilities.
What is Baddeley’s Working Memory Model?
It proposes multiple specialized “buffers” for different types of information, controlled by a “central executive,” which manages the processing of these buffers.
What is the Phonological Loop in Baddeley’s model?
The phonological loop holds verbal and auditory information. It can hold about 7 items (like digits or unrelated words) and is associated with the “articulatory loop,” where information is mentally repeated to help maintain it.
What is the word length effect?
The word length effect shows that people recall words better when they are shorter in length (e.g., monosyllabic) because they can be rehearsed within a shorter period of time, usually around 1.5 seconds.
What is the Visuospatial Sketchpad?
It is a component that holds visual and spatial information, such as sequences of visually guided actions or seeing things “in the mind’s eye.” It holds about 6-7 items, similar to the phonological loop.
What is the capacity of the Visuospatial Sketchpad?
The capacity appears to be around 6-7 items, though some argue it might be a fixed number, like 4 or 7, and others view working memory as a limited resource shared between all items.
How does Baddeley’s Working Memory Model explain specialized buffers?
The model proposes that we have specialized buffers for types of information, like phonological (verbal) or visuospatial information, and these buffers work independently without interfering with one another.
What is the role of the Central Executive in working memory?
The central executive controls and coordinates the activities of the different buffers and manages how information is processed and transferred between them.
What was a problem identified in Baddeley’s Working Memory Model?
People can recall meaningful sentences or paragraphs better than unrelated words, suggesting a flaw in the model. Baddeley and Wilson (2002) found that amnesic patients showed normal immediate prose recall but impaired recall after a delay.
What is the Episodic Buffer in working memory?
The episodic buffer is a temporary storage system with limited capacity that integrates information from different sources and plays a role in retrieving information from long-term memory.
How does the Episodic Buffer relate to episodic long-term memory?
It integrates information across time and space, acting as a bridge to store and retrieve events from episodic memory, which involves reactivation of brain regions associated with the event.
What does the hierarchical process view of working memory propose?
It suggests that ongoing information processing requires accumulation of information over time, across different brain circuits and timescales, integrating information dynamically.
