Working Memory Model Flashcards
What type of memory does the working memory model study and why was it created
It studies the short term memory because short term memory within the multi store model was accused of being too simplistic as a unitary store.
Who created the working memory model
Baddely and hitch
What is the central executive in the working memory model
The function of the central, executive is to direct attention to particular tasks, determining at any time how the brains resources are allocated to the tasks. The resources are the three slave system. Data arrives from the senses or long term memory. The central executive has a very limited capacity; in other words it can’t attend too many things at once as it has no capacity for storing data.
What are the three sub or slave systems of short term memory
Phonological loop
Visio-spatial sketchpad
Episodic buffer
Describe the slave system: the phonological loop
This too has a very limited capacity. The phonological loop deals with auditory information and preserves the order of information. Baddely further subdivided this loop into
-the phonological store which holds the words you hear
-and an articulatory process which is used for words heard and seen. These words are silently repeated, like an inner voice. This is a form of maintenance rehearsal.
Describe the slave system: Visio spatial sketchpad
The VSS is used when you have to plan a spatial task. Visual and spatial information is temporarily stored here. Visual information is what things look like. And spatial information is the physical relationship between things. Logie suggested that the VSS is divided into
- a visual cache which stores information about visual items like colour
-an inner scribe which stores an arrangement of objects in the visual felid.
Describe the slave system: episodic buffer
Baddely added the episodic buffer because he realised the model needed a general store. The phonological loop and Visio-spatial sketchpad deal with processing and temporary storage of specific kinds of information. The central executive has no storage capacity; so there was nowhere to hold information that relates to both Visual and acoustic information. It is an extra storage system and it has a limited capacity. The buffer integrates information from the central executive, the phonological loop and Visio-spatial sketchpad.
What was the reason for developing the working memory model
To account (explain) for duel task performance. This was when two tasks involving short term memory were preformed with two auditory tasks, and then an auditory task and a visual task. When the type of coding was different the tasks could be memorised perfectly. But when the type of coding was the same, the tasks couldn’t be memorised well. This suggested that multiple stores existed in short term memory.
What was the study conducted by hitch and baddely in support of the existence of the central executive
Task 1 occupied the central executive. Task 2 either involved the articulatory loop or both the central executive and articulatory loop. Task 1 was slower when task 2 occupied both the central executive and articulatory loop. This demonstrates the duel task preformance effect and that the central executive is one of the components of the working memory model.
What evidence was there from brain damaged patients
Shallice and Warrington studied KF whose short term forgetting of auditory information was much greater than that of visual stimuli. In addition his auditory problems were limited to verbal material such as letters and digits but no meaningful sounds. Thus his brain damage seemed to be restricted to the phonological loop store. This supports the idea of separate auditory systems, such as the phonological loop and articulatory processes.
