working memory model

Question 1

what does the WMM see STM as ?

Answer 1

an active processor

Question 2

what is the capacity of the episodic buffer?

Answer 2

25 items

Question 3

what is the capacity of the Central executive?

Answer 3

1 piece of info at a time

Question 4

what is the capacity of the Visuospatial sketchpad?

Answer 4

4-5 chunks

Question 5

what is the capacity of the phonoligical loop - phonological store

Answer 5

1.5-2 seconds

Question 6

what is the central executive?

Answer 6

has a supervisory function and controls the slave systems it allocates tasks to them.

it is an attentional process that makes decisions

it has a limited capacity of 1 item at a time

Question 7

what is the phonological loop?

Answer 7

processes auditory info

the articulatory control system is known as the inner voice. it is a verbal rehearsal system

the phonological store is known as the inner ear- this memory trace lasts 1.5 to 2 seconds if not refreshed by the articulatory control system

Question 8

what is the visuospatial sketchpad ?

Answer 8

known as the inner eye and processes visual and spatially coded information.

visual cache: a passive store of form and colour

inner scribe: active store holding the relationships between objects in 3D space

Question 9

what are the 2 parts of the visuospatial sketchpad ?

Answer 9

visual cache
inner scribe

Question 10

what is the episodic buffer?

Answer 10

acts as a back up store which communicates with LTM and componenets of working memory

stores and integrates info from ltm and parts of WM

Question 11

braver et al - brain scans

Answer 11

brain scans- when ps were asked to do a task involving the central executive there was greater activity in the prefrontal cortex as task got harder activity increased

this supports because as demands of the ce increases it has to work harder to fulfill its function

Question 12

how does braver et al support the WMM?

Answer 12

this supports because as demands of the CE increases it has to work harder to fulfill its function

Question 13

what area of the brain is activity found in when using the central executive?

Answer 13

prefrontal cortex

Question 14

shallice and warrington KF

Answer 14

kf had poor STM ability for verbal info but he could process STM visual info

when digits were read out to him it was difficult to recall them

when KF read them to himself he was able to recall them

this supports the idea that the visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop are separate stores

Question 15

how does KF support the WMM

Answer 15

supports the idea that the visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop are separate stores

Question 16

what is Baddeley’s word length effect ?

Answer 16

people find it more difficult to remember longer words than shorter words. this is because there is a limited space for rehearsal in the articulatory process

Question 17

what study of baddeleys shows the CE has a limited capacity?

Answer 17

he found that ps found it difficult to generate lists of random numbers whilst simultaneously switching between pressing numbers and letters on a keyboard

this supports that the capacity of the CE is limited in capacity and is only able to handle 1 piece of info at a time

Question 18

what is baddeleys dual task study ?

Answer 18

ps were asked to do either 2 visual tasks ( tracking a light and describing the angle of the letter F )

and asked to do a verbal and visual task

it was found that ps had difficulty in doing 2 visual tasks as there is competition for the same slave system whereas when doing a visual and verbal there is no competition

this supports that there is a VSS that processes visual input

Question 19

what did baddekey find in his dual task study ?

Answer 19

it was found that ps had difficulty in doing 2 visual tasks as there is competition for the same slave system

whereas when doing a visual and verbal there is no competition as different slave systems are used .( VSS and PL)

Question 20

what were the 2 visual tasks in the dual task study?

Answer 20

tracking a light
describing the angle of the letter F

Question 21

what does the dual task study support?

Answer 21

supports the idea of a separate store that processes visual input

so supports the Visuo spatial sketchpad

Question 22

Alkhalifa

Answer 22

reported on a patient with severely impaired LTM who had a capacity of 25 items in the STM

exceeding the capacity of the phonological loop and visuo spatial sketchpad

this suggests the existence of the episodic buffer which holds items in the working memory until theyre recalled

Question 23

what does alkhalifa support?

Answer 23

suggests the existence of the episodic buffer which holds items in the working memory until theyre recalled

as his STM capacity was 25 items which exceeds capacity of PL and VSS

Question 24

what has PET scans shown about the WMM?

Answer 24

shown that different areas of the brain are activated when doing verbal and visual tasks

which suggests that the phonological loop and VSS are separate systems

Question 25

what is the criticism of the central executive ?
negative of WMM

Answer 25

lack of clarity of the function of CE

the idea that is allocates tasks doesnt differentiate it from attention