Working Memory Model: Baddeley And Hitch (1974)

Question 1

Intro: Baddeley and Hitch propose the Working memory model as an explanation of how what works?

Answer 1

STM

Question 2

What did Baddeley and Hitch propose about the STM?

Answer 2

It was not a separate unitary store (like the MSM predicts), but several different stores that are all connected but work independently. Challenging the simplistic nature of STM in MSM

Question 3

What type of process is the central executive? What does it do?

Answer 3

Attentional process that monitors incoming data and decides what needs to be done and when and delegates tasks accordingly to slave systems.

Question 4

What type of coding does the central executive do?

Answer 4

Any type of information

Question 5

What does the central executive monitor?

Answer 5

What is happening in the slave systems, taking over the most demanding task where necessary. Any task that is new or requires concentration will overload the central executive ad it has limited capacity.

Question 6

Auditory information is passed from the CE to the…

Answer 6

Phonological loop

Question 7

Baddely further subdivided the phonological loop intro 2 parts:

Answer 7

The phonological store - stores words we hear, like an inner ear.
The articulatory loop - silently repeats / rehearse words that are seen or hear to keep them in memory, like an inner voice (maintenance rehearsal).

Question 8

The phonological loop has a limited capacity and codes…

Answer 8

Acoustically

Question 9

Visual information is passed from the central executive to the…

Answer 9

Visuo spatial sketch pad, like an inner eye.

Question 10

What is the visuo spatial sketch pad responsible for?

Answer 10

Setting up mental images and its what you use to plan a spatial task e.g. giving directions. It temporarily stores visual and spatial information.

Question 11

Logie (1995) divided the visuo spatial sketch pad into:

Answer 11

The visual cache - which stores visual data
The inner scribe - which records the arrangement of objects in the visual field

Question 12

The visuo spatial sketch pad has a limited capacity (3-4 objects) and codes…

Answer 12

Visually

Question 13

The episodic buffer is a general store added later by Baddely and Hitch in 2000. The episodic buffer…

Answer 13

Collects and combines information from the central executive, phonological loop, and visuo spatial sketch pad to record an event (episode). It transfers information to the LTM and is used to retrieve information from the LTM to the STM

Question 14

The episodic buffer has a limited capacity (4 chunks) and can code…

Answer 14

Any type of information.

Question 15

If a person completes two tasks at the same time that use the same slave system, then performance is reduced because…

Answer 15

They have a limited capacity. But not if the tasks use different slave systems as there is no completion for a limited capacity.

Question 16

Research to support the WMM was conducted by Shalice and Warrington (1970) on patient KF, who suffered with amnesia. They found that…

Answer 16

KF’s recall in STM fro digits (phonological loop) was very poor when digits were read to him, but much better when he could read the digits himself. Supports MSM as it suggests there must be different stores in the STM, one to process visual information (VSS), one to process auditory information (PL), as the PL was damaged but the VSS was intact.

Question 17

Discuss: However, critics would argue that the case study to support WMM is flawed as it has low population validity. Research was conducted on just patient KF who has…

Answer 17

An unusual illness involving damage to the brain. It is difficult to generalise findings to the wider population as their STM may operate differently, thus limiting support that it provides for WMM.

Question 18

Studies of dual task performance support the notion that there are are separate components within the STM and that they have limited capacity. For example Baddeley et al (1975) found that participants had more difficulty when performing…

Answer 18

Two visual tasks at the same time (using a pointer to track a light moving around a screen and imagining the letter ‘F’ and mentally moving the letter) than when performing one of the visual tasks alone or one of the visual tasks with a verbal task such as saying ‘the’ repeatedly. Supporting WMM assumptions as both visual tasks are competing for limited capacity of the same slave system (VSS) whereas doing a verbal and visual task, they are delegate to the separate slave systems (VSS and PL) and performance is not reduce as there is no completion for capacity. Credibility of the WMM increases.

Question 19

Despite empirical research to support the WMM, some argue much of this research is conducted on slave systems such as the PL and VSS and there is lack of clarity over the role of the central executive. The CE is said to be…

Answer 19

A single component of attention that delegates to slave systems. However, psychologists suggest the CE may have several components within it. Casting doubt on the WMM as an explanation of the STM.