Working Memory Model Flashcards
What is the working model of memory? (WMM)
Baddeley and Hitch Proposal (1974)
- divides STM into a central executive oversees 3 slave systems
* proposes that STM was more complex than just being a temporary store
- they saw STM as active processor, holding several pieces of information simultaneously while they are being ‘worked on’, for example when working on an arithmetic problem or comprehending language.
Working Memory Model components
Central Executive
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Visuo-spatial sketchpad
Episodic buffer
Phonological loop
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Long term memory
What is the Central Executive?
- coordinates the activities of the 3 slave systems.
- monitors incoming data from the senses, makes decisions as to which data should be attended to and then allocates different tasks to the relevant slave-systems.
central executive coding
modality free (codes in all sensory forms)
What is the Visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS)?
- deals with temporary storage of visual and spatial information - capacity of 3-4 items
- essentially holds static images and manipulates them
- sub-divided into a visual cache and inner scribe
central executive capacity
very limited, cannot attend to too many things at once
visual information example
what things look like, such as the shape and size of letters in a word
spatial information
the relationship between objects
VSS capacity
3-4 items
VSS coding
relies on a visual code in terms of shape, size and colour
visual cache
stores information about visual items i.e. shape and colour
inner scribe
deals with spatial relations and records the arrangement of obiects in the visual field
What is the phonological loop?
- deals with auditory/sound information or deals with both written and spoken material,
- subdivided into the phonological store (inner ear) and the articulatory process (inner voice),
- the phonological store stores the words you hear (in speech form),
- the articulatory process allows for maintenance rehearsal,
- as a limited capacity / the capacity of the loop is what can be said in 2 seconds.
phonological store
holds words that have recently been heard, like an ‘inner ear’
phonological store duration
2 seconds
articulatory process
allows maintenance rehearsal
- words or sounds are silently repeated in a ‘loop’ to keep them in working memory while they are needed, such as when trying to remember a telephone number by sub-vocally repeating it over and over, like an ‘inner voice’.
articulatory process capacity
2 seconds worth of what you can say before the trace fades away
phonological loop coding
acoustic
What is the episodic buffer?
- provides a general storage facility, which combines information from the other stores (visual, spatial and verbal) rather than separate strands and also from long term memory
- it temporarily stores this information and then integrates it in order to construct a mental episode of what is being experienced right now
episodic buffer capacity
limited, about 4 chunks
episodic buffer coding
modality free
What did Shallice and Warrington (1974) find?
- Case study of KF, a brain-damaged patient who had an impaired STM,
- His problem was with immediate recall of words presented verbally, but not with visual information,
- Suggests that he had an impaired articulatory loop, but an intact visuo-spatial sketchpad, therefore providing evidence for the working-memory model’s view of STM.
Gathercole and Baddeley (1993), method and findings?
- Laboratory study,
- All of the participants had to carry out a task where they had to follow a moving spot of light,
- This would use the visuo-spatial sketchpad,
- One group of participants would be asked to simultaneously describe the angles on a letter; another task involving the visuo-spatial sketchpad,
- The other group of participants were given a second task that would use the phonological loop - they had to do a visual task whilst following the light,
- Found that performance was much better in the participants doing tasks which used separate systems.
Limitations of the WMM?
- Some researchers argue that the model’s idea of a central executive is too simplistic and vague. Their model doesn’t really explain what the central executivee is, apart from being involved in attention. However, it is difficult to design tasks to test the central executive,
- The model only explains how information is dealt with in short-term memory. It doesn’t explain how information is transferred to long-term memory,
- Much of the research which has supported the working memory model has been laboratory studies. This reduces the ecological validity of the evidence, as highly controlled studies might not be representative of what happens in the real world.
