Working Memory Model Flashcards
Briefly describe the working memory model.
Baddely and hitch believed STM was more complex + consisted of several components. WMM was proposed to explain how this aspect of memory is organised and how it functions. concerned with what part of memory is active when we are dealing w complex tasks which require us to store info as we go along, such as calculating a sum/reading a sentence.
Describe the central executive and refer to coding and capacity.
Coding: acoustic or visual
Capacity: very limited.
The main role of the central executive is to pay attention to tasks that need to be completed and allocate the working memory’s resources to complete the tasks. The resources are the slave systems.
Describe the phonological loop and refer to coding and capacity.
Coding: acoustic
Capacity: limited; the articulately rehearsal system can hold 2 seconds worth of what you hear.
Slave system concerned with auditory and speech based info. It is divided into the phonological store (inner ear) which holds words that are heard for a brief period of time, and the articulately rehearsal system (inner voice) which allows maintenance rehearsal of words that are heard or seen. The words are silently repeated in a loop to keep them in working memory until needed.
Describe the Visuo-spatial sketchpad and refer to coding and capacity.
Coding: visual
Capacity: 3/4 objects.
Another slave system that is often referred to as the inner eye. Divided into a visual component which stores and processes info associated with objects/features like shape and colour, and the spatial component which stores and processes into about the arrangement of objects in the visual field.
Describe the episodic buffer and refer to coding and capacity.
Coding: acoustic or visual
Capacity: about 4 chunks of info
Combines information processed by other slave systems and also interacts with the LTM. It is also a general store used to hold any type of info (the other stores are for just auditory/visual)
Describe research into the WMM.
Dual task method to investigate different types of LTM. 12 chess players give 3 minutes to choose next chess move while doing either: repeatedly saying see-saw (ph. Loop) making up meaningless letter sequences (central exec.) or pressing keys on a keypad in a clockwise direction (V-S sketch pad). They found saying seesaw had little effect on quality of chess moves but the other 2 tasks led to poorer quality moves. Therefore the central executive and Visuospatial sketchpad are involved in choosing chess moves but P loop isn’t.
Give 2 strengths of the WMM.
The chess study is supporting evidence cause if pps had to use the same component for two different tasks their performance was impaired suggesting that each component had a limited capacity and exceeding this capacity leads to poor performance.
Case study of KF - brain damage affecting STM. struggled with sound tasks but could complete visual tasks suggesting P loop was damaged but other parts of WMM intact. Illustrates different components.
Give two criticisms of the WMM.
Brain injury can lead to cognitive difficulties like problems paying attention which could explain why these individuals underperform on memory tasks. Therefore difficult to generalise findings.
Central executive considered to be most important however little is known about what it actually does. It appears to allocate resources and is essentially the same as attention but critics claim this description is too vague. Also, some believe the idea of central exec isn’t correct and there are prob many components within it.
