Working Memory Model Flashcards
What is the WMM?
Baddeley & Hitch’s Working Memory (WMM) model is a model of STM that replaced the idea of a unitary STM. It suggests STM is more active and complex than the MSM proposed. For example, it believes STM CAN COMPLETE TWO DIFFERENT TASKS AT THE SAME TIME. WMM is made up of 4 interconnected and interactive components as seen in the diagram.
Summarise the central executive.
Capacity - Limited to no storage capacity (The CE cannot attend to too many things at once and has no capacity for storing data).
Coding - It is flexible as each sense is coded differently.
Features - • Controls the other ‘slave’ components and decides which component is required for the task.
• Involved in planning, problem solving and decision making.
Decides what the Working Memory pays ATTENTION to.
Summarise the phonological loop.
Capacity-Limited Capacity (2 seconds’ worth of what you can say).
Coding-Codes information acoustically.
Features-The PL can be sub-divided into:
Primary Acoustic Store (PAS) – Linked to speech perception. It receives auditory information and remembers sounds in the order that they were presented.
Articulatory Process (AP) – Linked to speech production. It is used to prepare sounds and speech by using rehearsal.
Summarise the visuospatial sketchpad.
Capacity- Limited Capacity (3-4 objects).
Coding- Codes information visually.
Features- The VSSP can be sub-divided into:
Visual Cache (VC) – stores material about form and colour.
Inner Scribe (IS) – handles spatial relationships (like following a map in our heads).
Summarise episodic buffer .
Capacity - • Temporary storage system.
• Limited capacity of about four chunks.
Coding-across different slave components
Features- • Brings together different types of information from the VSSP and P.L.
• Provides temporary storage of information.
• Is controlled by the C.E.
It plays an important role in retrieving information from LTM.
What are studies to support VSSP?
Baddeley found that participants had more difficulty doing two visual tasks (tracking a light and describing the letter F) than doing both a visual and verbal task at the same time. The increased difficulty is because both visual tasks compete for the same slave system (VSSP) whereas, when doing a verbal and visual task simultaneously, there is no competition because they are using separate components (VSSP and PL). This suggests that when undertaking two visual tasks they exceed the limited capacity of the VSSP and provides strong evidence of its existence. This evidence supports the idea that there are different components within WM and they have a limited capacity.
What is research support from PET SCANS?
provide physiological evidence of different components specialising in particular tasks. For example, Cohen et al found that brain activity was higher in the part of the brain known as Broca’s area (which is linked to phonological loop) when participants were completing a verbal task, whereas regions of the occipital lobe (which is linked to visual processing) are activated when participants complete a task using the VSSP. This provides strong neurocognitive support for the WMM suggesting there being different components being responsible for different STM tasks.
What is the issue with the CE?
the most important component, the CE, has been over looked and oversimplified. Evidence from the case study of EVR contradicts the idea of a unitary CE. After having a tumour removed, EVR performed well on tests requiring reasoning which suggested his CE was intact, however he had poor decision-making skills (for example he would spend hours deciding where to eat), suggesting the CE was damaged. This suggests there are several components to the CE rather than one as the WMM suggests and in EVR’s case only one was damaged.
What is a limitation of the WMM
its inability to account for all types of memory. Berz (1995) criticised the model for failing to account for musical memory, as we are able to listen to instrumental music without impairing performance on other acoustic tasks. Listening to instrumental music should occupy the Primary Acoustic Store’s limited capacity, making it difficult to carry out other acoustic tasks. However, this is not the case. This suggests that the WMM does not give us a complete picture of how different types of memory are processed.
