The working memory model Flashcards
who proposed the WMM
Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
what did the WMM show
Explanation of how STM is organised and how it functions.
The WMM is concerned with mental space that is active when we completing an activity
what are the four main components of the WMM
central executive
phonological loop
visuo-spatial sketchpad
episodic buffer
central executive
Monitors incoming data.
Focuses and divides our limited attention and allocates slave systems to tasks
Capacity is very limited and does not store info
Coding is flexible as it depends on senses
what are the two subdivisions of the phonological loop
phonological stores
articulatory process
phonological loop
One of the slave systems
Deals with auditory info and preserves the order in which the info arrives.
The PL is subdivided into: phonological stores and articulatory process
Phonological stores – stores the words you hear
Articulatory process – allows maintenance rehearsal
Capacity of this loop is two seconds worth of what you can hear
Coding is acoustic
visuo-spatial sketchpad
Second slave system
Stores visual and/or spatial info when required
The VSS is subdivided into: visual cache and inner scribe
The visual cache – stores visual data
The inner scribe – records the arrangement of objects in the visual field
Capacity is 3 or 4 objects (according to Baddeley)
Coding is visual and spatial
episodic buffer
Third slave system
Added to model in 2000 by Baddeley
Temporary store for info, integrating the visual, spatial and verbal info processed by other stores and maintains a sense of time sequencing
The episodic buffer links working memory to LTM and wider cognitive processes such as perception
Limited capacity of about 4 chunks
Coding is flexible as it depends on senses
evaluation of the working memory model (brief)
strength - support from KF, however may have been other cognitive impairments
strength - support from dual task studies
weakness - lack of clarity over nature of central executive
strengths of the WMM
support from clinical evidence. KF was an amnesia patient whose recall for digits was better when he read them but poor when he heard them. His STM for auditory info was poor (damaged PL) but could process visual info (intact VSS). HOWEVER, it’s unclear whether KF had other cognitive impairments which might have impacted his performance on memory tasks. This challenges the evidence that comes from clinical studies of people with brain injuries as many systems may have been affected. Therefore this impacts the validity.
support from dual task studies for existence of separate VSS. Baddeley et al discovered that participants performance was worse when doing two visual tasks at the same time compared to doing a verbal and a visual task. This is because both visual tasks compete for the same slave system (VSS) whereas there is no competition when performing verbal and visual task together. This shows that there must be a separate slave system that processes visual input and one for verbal.
weaknesses of the WMM
lack of clarity of nature of central executive. Baddeley said that the CE was the most important but least understood component of working memory. The CE needs to be more clearly specified than just simply being ‘attention’. For example, many psychologists believe that the CE may consist of separate subcomponents. Therefore, the CE is an unsatisfactory component and challenges the integrity of the WMM.
