Working Memory Model

Question 1

Central executive

Answer 1

• Has a supervisory function and directs attention to the slave systems.
• Coding- Modality free
• Capacity- Limited capacity.

Question 2

Visio-spatial sketchpad

Answer 2

• This deals with visual and spatial information.
• Coding- Visual.
• Capacity- 3-4 chunks.
  This includes two different stores:
• Visual cache- Stores information about visual items.
• Inner scribe- Stores the arrangement of objects in the visual field.

Question 3

Episodic buffer

Answer 3

• Integrates information from CE, VSS and PL. maintains time sequencing.
• Coding- Modality free.
• Capacity- 4 chunks.

Question 4

Phonological loop

Answer 4

• This deals with verbal/auditory information.
• Coding- Acoustic.
• Capacity- 2 seconds worth of auditory information.
  This includes two different stores
• Phonological store- Holds the words you hear.
• Articulatory process- For words seen or head that are repeated.

Question 5

Baddeley method

Answer 5

Condition 1
- Track a spot of light with a pointer whilst saying yes or no to angles on an imagined angular letter.
Condition 2
- Track a spot of light whilst doing a verbal task.

Question 6

Baddeley results and conclusion

Answer 6

Results
- Participants found it difficult to hold the image of the letter in their heads and track the moving light.
- However, if asked to carry out a verbal task and track light they could perform both well.
Conclusion
- The visuo-spatial sketch pad is a limited resource.

Question 7

WMM evaluation- Research support for dual processing

Answer 7

• Research support for dual processing than serial processing.
• Ev- Baddeley and Hitch (tracking letters).
• Ex- Proves that we cannot do two similar tasks as it overloads the VSS. Whereas we can dual task without any decrease to performance. Hence two separate slave systems.
• However lack of ecological validity.

Question 8

WMM evaluation- Research support from studies with higher ecological validity

Answer 8

• In addition, there is evidence from studies with higher ecological validity.
• Ev- KF- STM forgetting of auditory information more than visual information, struggles with auditory material.
• Ex- Proves that KF has issues specifically with the phonological loop. This supports the idea that we have separate slave systems.
• However, these case studies are unique as KF had a unique brain surgery/damage.

Question 9

WMM evaluation- Criticised for being too vague

Answer 9

• However the WMM can be criticised for being to vague.
• Ev- WMM does not fully explain the central executive. It assumes it is a single component, rather than made of many functions.
• Ex- This suggests that the WMM is also reductionist, as it oversimplifies the role of the central executive.
• Moreover, it also does not explain how information passes to LTM, or where the information from the CE is stored in STM.

Question 10

WMM evaluation- Criticised for being too vague

Answer 10

• However the WMM can be criticised for being to vague.
• Ev- WMM does not fully explain the central executive. It assumes it is a single component, rather than made of many functions.
• Ex- This suggests that the WMM is also reductionist, as it oversimplifies the role of the central executive.
• Moreover, it also does not explain how information passes to LTM, or where the information from the CE is stored in STM.