Working memory model Flashcards
Who created the working memory model?
Allan Badaley and Hitch in 1975
What does the phonological loop do?
It stores auditory information and codes it acoustically
It is made up of two stores: the phonological store and the articulatory control system
The phonological store acts as an ‘inner-ear’ and holds speech based information
The articulatory control system acts as an ‘inner voice’ and is linked to speech production. It rehearses information from the phonological store.
What does the visuospatial sketchpad do?
It stores visual and spatial memory
It is made up of two stores: the visual cache and the inner scribe
The visual cache stores information about form and colour.
The Inner scribe retains information about movement sequences and is closely linked to the planning and execution of movement.
What does the episodic buffer do?
It is a slave system which integrates information from the other components and maintains a sense of time, so that events occur in a continuing sequence.
This slave system was added by Baddeley in 2000 as he realised the model needed a more general store.
The role of the central executive is….
to allocate information and data to one of the three slave systems
What does dual task performance state?
That two tasks cannot be processed in the same slave system eg driving a car whilst watching a movie
Write a strength of the WMM (PEEL)….
P- A strength of the WMM is it’s supported by clinical evidence from studies of patients suffering brain damage.
E- KF suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident and his STM was partially impaired. He could not recall verbal (acoustic) information, but could still process visuals eg faces. His phonological-loop had been severely damaged however his visual-spatial sketchpad was still intact.
E- This supports the idea that there are separate stores within the STM for visual & spatial and acoustic information.
L- Increases the validity of the WMM. However, cases are recorded when patient has heavy trauma and their task performance prior to their accident is unknown.
A limitation of the WMM (PEEL)….
P - A limitation of the WMM is that critics have suggested the CE component is too vague and does not explain anything.
E - Baddeley himself admitted that the CE was the ‘least understood’ component of the WMM. Some psychologists have even suggested the CE may consist of separate stores.
E - More research is therefore needed for the exact evidence for the role of the CE.
L - This lack of clarification questions the validity of this part of the model as it not fully explained and developed.
What was the brain scan evidence found for the Central Executive?
Braver in 1997 completed a study in which participants were given a task involving the Central Executive. Activity was found in the Prefrontal Cortex and this became more active the harder the task became.
