Working memory model Flashcards
What is the Working Memory Model (WMM)?
A model of short-term memory that explains how information is temporarily stored and manipulated for tasks like problem-solving, reading, and mental calculations.
Who proposed the Working Memory Model (WMM)?
Baddeley & Hitch (1974).
What are the four components of the WMM?
- Central Executive (CE)
- Phonological Loop (PL)
- Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (VSS)
- Episodic Buffer (EB)
What is the role of the Central Executive (CE)?
• Supervises and allocates tasks to the subsystems.
• Controls attention and processing.
• Has a very limited capacity and does not store information.
What is the Phonological Loop (PL) responsible for?
Processing auditory information (sound-based coding).
What are the two parts of the Phonological Loop (PL)?
- Phonological store – stores words you hear.
- Articulatory process – allows maintenance rehearsal (repeating words to keep them in memory).
How long can the articulatory process hold information?
About 2 seconds’ worth of what you can say.
What is the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (VSS) responsible for?
Processing visual and spatial information (e.g., mentally picturing objects).
What are the two parts of the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (VSS)?
- Visual cache – stores visual data.
- Inner scribe – records object locations and spatial relationships.
What is the capacity of the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (VSS)?
About 3–4 objects (Baddeley, 2003).
What is the Episodic Buffer (EB)?
A temporary store that integrates visual, spatial, and verbal information and records time sequences.
Why was the Episodic Buffer (EB) added to the model?
It was added by Baddeley (2000) to explain how different types of information are combined and linked to long-term memory (LTM).
What is the capacity of the Episodic Buffer (EB)?
About four chunks of information (Baddeley, 2012).
strength (1) of WMM
One strength is support from Tim Shallice and Elizabeth Warrington’s (1970) case study of patient KF.
After his brain injury, KF had poor STM ability for auditory (sound) information but could process visual information normally.
For instance his immediate recall of letters and digits was better when he read them (visual) than when they were read to him (acoustic). KF’s phonological loop was damaged but his visuo-spatial sketchpad was intact.
This finding strongly supports the existence of separate visual and acoustic memory stores.
strength (2) WMM
Another strength is that studies of dual-task performance support the separate existence of the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
When Baddeley et al’s (1975) participants carried out a visual and verbal task at the same time (dual task), their performance on each was similar to when they carried out the tasks separately. But when both tasks were visual (or both were verbal), performance on both declined substantially. This is because both visual tasks compete for the same subsystem (VSS), whereas there is no competition when performing a verbal and visual task together.
This shows there must be a separate subsystem (the VSS) that processes visual input (and one for verbal processing, the PL).
limitation of WMM
One limitation is that there is a lack of clarity over the nature of the central executive
Baddeley (2003) himself recognised this when he said, ‘The central executive is the most important but the least understood component of working memory The CE needs to be more clearly specified than just being simply ‘attention. For example, some psychologists believe the CE may consist of separate subcomponents.
This means that the CE is an unsatisfactory component and this challenges the integrity of the WMM.
