Working Memory Model Flashcards
Who made the WMM?
Baddeley and Hitch 1974
What are the 5 components of the WMM?
central executive, visuo-spatial sketch pad, episodic buffer, phonological loop, LTM
What is the role of the central executive?
Problem solving, decision making, controls attention and slave systems, limited storage but flexible
What is the phonological loop?
Articulatory control system (inner voice) for verbal rehearsal, phonological store (inner ear) to store acoustically coded item for brief period, limited capacity
What is the visuo-spatial sketch pad for?
setting up and manipulating mental images, limited capacity, storage of visual info, inner eye
What is the episodic buffer?
more recent, limited capacity, binds together info from different sources into chunks/episodes
What does the supporting research by Baddeley 1975 show?
reading speed, sets of 5 words, 1/multiple syllables, write words in order immediately, more short words recalled, strong + correlation between reading speed and memory span, MSM doesn’t account for immediate memory span being dependent on stimulus
What does supporting research by Baddeley and Hitch 1974 show?
dual task study: rehearse digit string during verbal reasoning task, able to recall 6 digit string and do the reasoning task = STM flexible, multiple systems
What does the supporting research by Baddeley 1973 show?
tracking task and imagery task at same time, difficult to do both at same time, could do tracking with verbal task though, evidence for visuo spatial sketch pad
What are the 2 limitations of the WMM?
role of central executive not clearly defined, studies prove its existence (Robbins 1996) but none can quantify it, the model is unfalsifiable
