Working Memory Model Flashcards
What is the working memory model?
Explanation of how stm is organised and how it functions
- concerned with the part of the mind that is active when we are temporarily storing and manipulating info
What are the main components?
- Central executive
- Phonological loop
- Visuo spatial sketchpad
- Episodic buffer
Who proposed the wmm?
Baddeley & Hitch 1974
Central executive
An attentional process that monitors incoming data from our senses, makes decisions and allocates tasks to slave systems
- limited capacity (can only cope with 1 strand of info at a time)
Phonological loop (1st slave system)
Deals with auditory info and the order of the info
- limited capacity determined by the amount of info that can be spoken out loud in 2 seconds
Split into 2 subparts:
1. Phonological store (stores words recently heard)
2. Articulatory control system (keeps info in the phonological loop through subvocal repetition)
Visuo-spatial sketchpad (2nd slave system)
Stores visual and spatial info
- limited capacity, according to Baddeley it is 3/4 objects
Logie subdivided the vss into:
- visual cache (stores visual data)
- inner scribe (records the arrangement of objects in a visual field)
Episodic buffer
Temporary store for info that integrates the visual, spatial and verbal info processed by the other stores and maintains a sense of time sequencing
- added to wmm by Baddeley in 2000
- limited capacity of 4 chunks
- links stm to lim and wider cognitive processes
Limitation - LACK OF CLARITY
P - cognitive psychologists argue that the CE is unsatisfactory and doesn’t explain anything
E - most important but least understood component and needs to be more clearly specified as ‘attention’ is too vague
C - wmm isn’t fully explained and incomplete which questions its validity
Counter argument - brain scanning evidence by braver et al has shown that when p’s did tasks involving the CE, activity was seen in the prefrontal cortex showing that the CE has physical reality in the brain
Strength - DUAL TASK PERFORMANCE
P - studies of dual task performance support the separate existence of the visuo spatial sketchpad
E - Baddeley et al showed p’s had more difficulty doing 2 visual tasks at the same time in comparison to doing a visual and verbal at the same time
C - there must be a separate slave system that processes visual input which is the vss
Strength - RESEARCH SUPPORT
P - shallice & Warrington 1970 case study on patient KF
E - brain damage from motorcycle accident, poor stm ability for verbal info but processed visual info normally. This suggests only his phonological loop had been damaged
C - supports the existence of a separate visual and acoustic store
Counter argument - unreliable as it is a unique case that can’t be generalised
Who divided the vss into 2 parts and what were they?
Researcher Logie
- visual cache
- inner scribe
Visual cache
Stores visual data
Inner scribe
Records the arrangement of objects in a visual field
What is the capacity of the vss?
According to baddeley it is 3/4 objects
What is the capacity of the episodic buffer?
4 chunks
When was the episodic buffer added to the wmm by baddeley?
2000
What are the 2 subparts the phonological loop is divided into?
- phonological store
- articulatory control system
Phonological store
Stores words recently heard
Articulatory control system
Keeps info in the pl through subvocal repetition
What is the capacity of the pl?
Limited capacity determined by the amount of info that can be spoken out loud in 2 seconds
What is the capacity of the CE?
Can only cope with 1 strand of info at a time
