Working Memory Model

Question 1

What is the Working Memory Model

Answer 1

A representation of STM
Suggests STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using sub-units (slave systems) coordinated by a central decision making unit (central executive)

Question 2

Central Executive

Answer 2

Co-ordinates the activities of the three sub/slave systems in memory
Allocates processing resources to those activities
Has a very limited processing capacity

Question 3

Phonological Loop

Answer 3

A slave system
Processes auditory information and preserves the order in which the information arrives
Includes both written and spoken material
Divided into the Phonological Store and the Articulatory Process

Question 4

Phonological Loop - Phonological Store

Answer 4

Stores the words we hear

Question 5

Phonological Loop - Articulatory Process

Answer 5

Allows maintenance rehearsal
Capacity is believed to be 2 seconds

Question 6

Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

Answer 6

A slave system
Processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called our ‘inner eye’
Has a limited capacity (Baddeley 2003- states it is about 3 or 4 objects)
Logie (1995) - subdivided the VSS into the Visual Cache and the Inner Scribe

Question 7

Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad - Visual Cache

Answer 7

Stores visual data

Question 8

Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad - Inner Scribe

Answer 8

Records the arrangement of objects in the visual field

Question 9

Episodic Buffer

Answer 9

A slave system
Is a temporary store for information
Brings together material from the other subsystems into a single memory
Links working memory to wider cognitive processes and LTM
Limited capacity of about 4 chunks

Question 10

Central Executive ——> ? ? ?

Answer 10

Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

Episodic Buffer

Phonological Loop

Question 11

Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad ——> ?

Answer 11

Long-Term Memory

Question 12

Episodic Buffer ——> ?

Answer 12

Long-Term Memory

Question 13

Phonological Loops Subdivides into ? ?

Answer 13

Phonological Store

Articulatory Store

Question 14

Phonological Loop ——> ?

Answer 14

Long-Term Memory

Question 15

Evaluation (STRENGTH) - Clinical Evidence

Answer 15

Shallice and Warrington (1970) -
Case study of KF
Suffered brain damage causing poor STM ability for verbal information but could process visual information normally
Suggests his phonological loop had been damaged

Supports existence of a separate visual and acoustic store
However evidence from brain damage patients may not be reliable as it concerns unique cases with patients who had had traumatic experiences

Question 16

Evaluation (STRENGTH) - Dual Task Performance

Answer 16

Baddeley et al (1975) -
Showed participants had more difficulty doing two visual tasks simultaneously than doing a visual and a verbal task simultaneously
This is because the two visual tasks are trying to use the same slave system

Means there must be a separate slave system that processes visual input

Question 17

Evaluation (WEAKNESS) - Lack of Clarity over the Nature of the Central Executive

Answer 17

Cognitive psychologists suggest the central executive is unsatisfactory and doesn’t explain anything
Central executive needs to be more clearly specified than just being simply ‘attention’
Some psychologists believe it may consist of seperate components meaning the WMM hasn’t been fully explained

Baddeley (2003) -
Recognised that the central executive is the most important but lease understood component of working memory

Question 18

Evaluation - Clinical Evidence (COUNTERPOINT)

Answer 18

Unclear whether KF had other cognitive impairments that may have affected his performance on memory tasks
Challenges evidence that comes from clinical studies of people with brain injuries that may have affected different systems

Question 19

Evaluation (WEAKNESS) - Validity of the Model

Answer 19

Studies use tasks that are unlikely to occur in everyday life and are carried out in highly controlled lab conditions