Working Memory model

Question 1

Who devised the working memory model?

Answer 1

Baddeley and Hitch 1974

Question 2

What did Baddeley and Hitch believe about memory?

Answer 2

That it had multiple different stores. And believed that STM and LTM both had more than one store

Question 3

The components of the working memory model

Answer 3

Central executive, visuospatial sketch pad, episodic buffer, phonological loop (phonological stores, articulatory process)

Question 4

What was the function of the central executive?

Answer 4

Monitors incoming data and allocates sub-systems and resources to tasks
Decision making and reasoning tasks
Select strageties but can only do a limited number of things at once
Has a limited capacity (data arrives but can’t be held for long)
Baddeley (1986) - used the metaphor of a company boss

Question 5

1st sub-system - Phonological loop

Answer 5

Deals with auditory information and preserves word order (Inner ear)
Two second capacity, codes acoustically
Baddeley (1986) _ further divided into phonological store (Holds words) and articulatory process (Holds words heard/seen and silently repeated like an inner voice)

Question 6

2nd sub-system - Visuo-spatial sketch pad

Answer 6

Visual (what things look like) and or spatial information (the relationships between things)
Limited capacity - 3-4 objects
Logie (1995) - suggested subdivision:
- visual - cache (visual data store)
-inner scribe (records the arrangement of objects in the visual field)

Question 7

3rd sub-system - episodic buffer

Answer 7

-Temporary store for information - integrates visual, special and verbal information
-Maintains time sequencing - recording events (episodes)
Buffer extra storage system
Limited capacity of 4 chunks
Baddeley (2000) added episodic buffer as he realised the model needed a more general store

Question 8

Evidence for working memory model

Answer 8

Baddeley and Hitch (1976) - dual task paradigm

Question 9

Baddeley and Hitch (1976)

Answer 9

• Independent group design - group of randomly selected people that are split into two groups, both group doing something different
  ○ In each group (conditions), groups had to do 2 tasks [GROUP 1 GROUP 2]
  ○ Task 1 –> A reasoning task, ‘Does A follow B? Answer: True/False –> draws on the central executive
  ○ Task 2–> Saying ‘the, the, the…’ in a loop while doing task 1 –> draws on articulatory loop (and central executive from task 1)

○ Task 1 –> Same reasoning task –> draws on central executive
○Task 2–> Listing digits in a random order with task 1 –> Articulatory loop and the central executive (And central executive from task 1)

Independent variable - task 1, task 2 (with their variants)
Dependent variable - how quickly each task was done

Question 10

What is the dual task paradigm?

Answer 10

The idea that two tasks can’t be completed at the same time if they use the same sub-system of the working memory

Question 11

The word length effect

Answer 11

Working memory (STM) can cope better with short words than long words
Explained by the phonological loop, can hold amount of information between 1.5-2 seconds (Baddeley 1975)
Makes it harder to remember list of long words compared to shorter words as it inhibits the rehearsal of longer words

HOWEVER:
-Not applicable if person is given articulatory suppression task ( such as repeating a word out loud). Ties up articulatory process and means you can’t rehearse shorter words so length effect disappears

Question 12

Clinical evidence to support working model

Answer 12

Case of KF
-Shallice and Warrington (1970) - patient KF
- Brain injury - poor STM for auditory information but could process visual information
Recall of letters/digits was higher when he read them, than when they were read to him by someone else
-Shows phonological loop was damaged but visuo-spatial sketchpad was intact (Supports separate visual and acoustic store)

Question 13

Counterpoint to KF

Answer 13

• He could have other cognitive impairments which may affect his performance
• His injury was caused by a motorcycle accident, challenges evidence that comes from clinical studies - brain injuries may affect many different systems

Question 14

Limitation of working memory model

Answer 14

Nature of the central executive
-Lack of clarity over functions
-Baddeley (2003) - ‘The CE is the most important but the least understood component of the working memory’
-Some believe it is split into separate subcomponents
Argue it is a unsatisfactory component that threatens the integrity of the model