working memory model Flashcards
why was the working memory model created
the multistore model could not account for all aspects of memory and was thought to be overly simple
what does it say about the LTM
a passive store which maintains previously learned material for use by the STM when required
what is the central executive
limited capacity but is involved in general processing
ability to deal with different types of sensory information thus it is modality free (can process different forms of info)
key component
it has a supervisory role in deciding how the two face systems should function
direct attention and resources to particular tasks with the capacity to focus divide and switch attention
controls the two other slave systems
what is the phonological loop
deals with the temporary storage of auditory info
subdivided info: articulatory loop and phonological store
limited capacity and deals with auditory, preserves order of info
passive - holds the words you hear in your inner ear for a few seconds unless they are subvocalised or refreshed ising articulatory loop
silently repeats words like an inner voice
what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad
temporarily holds and manipulates visual and spatial info
deals directly with visa-spatial info through observing images and by retrieving visuospatial info from LTM
maintain and integrate info from channels using a visual code
LOGIE suggested that visual cache is a passive store and inner scribe is active
what evidence is there to support the phonological loop
using letters, numbers or words to see how many can be rehearsed or recalled e.g. Baddeley found that letters that sound alike are not recalled as well as letters that don’t sound alike
what evidence is there for visa-spatial sketchpad
neurological evidence - if a visual span is disrupted there are different issues than if a spatial span is disrupted
visual - blocks can be laid out with numbers on, recall the sequence of blocks
spatial - they would see the pattern and then it is removed the two parts affect each other
what is the word length effect
monosyllabic words are recalled more successfully than long polysyllabic words
longer words fill up limited capacity of the circulatory process resulting in the decay of words positioned earlier in the list
phonological loops holds the amount of info that you can say in 1.5-2 seconds
what is articulatory suppression
limited capacity shown
filling up the auditory
if 2 tasks make use of the same component they cannot be performed as successfully together
if 2 tasks make use of different components it should be possible to perform them as well together as separately
strengths of WMM
baddeley - visual task to perform, simultaneously perform a visual or verbal task. performed better in the task with two different skills. so two different components dealing with visual and verbal tasks. limited capacities but can work at the same time
presents a more detailed understanding of short term memory
positive research support for the existence of different stores and dual task performance.
produces testable predictions, important for the scientific process and allows this theory to be proved and accepted
weaknesses of WMM
low ecological validity as it is lab based may not be representative of what happens in a field study
Damasio did a study of a patient who had the cerebral tumour removed, good reasoning but poor decision making skills. he concluded the central executive was too vague and lacked sufficient detail in how it handled different types of information
reliability - unique in their individual differences
can’t tell what the persons brain was like before injury
who created the model
baddeley and hitch
when was it created
1974
what type of memory did they store
short term
can you do two different tasks at any one time
if they are in different stores - yes
if they are in the same store - no
