the working memory model

Question 1

what was said about Atkinson and Shiffrins (1968) multi-store model?

Answer 1

it was considered too simple of a model, in the MSM, the STM holds limited amounts of information for short periods of time with relatively little processing. it is a unitary system (a single system or store without any subsystems).

Question 2

who created the working memory model as an alternative to the the STM?

Answer 2

Baddeley and Hitch 1974

Question 3

what is the working memory model?

Answer 3

• it is not a unitary store, it stores and processes information
  it is ‘that bit of memory you are USING when you are WORKING on something’
  i.e. it is used when we are working on a complex task which requires us to store information for a period of time in order to carry out the task

Question 4

why does the working memory model have different stores?

Answer 4

instead of all information going into one store, there are different systems or components with limited capacity for different types of information
different stores explain why you can succesfully carry out duel task studies e.g. one verbal and one visual task
according the the WMM, the LTM s a passive store, an area where information can be retrieved by the STM when needed

Question 5

what does the working memory model look like?

Answer 5

phonological loop ↔️ central executive ↔️ visuo spatial sketchpad
-articulatory control system ↕️ -inner scribe
phonological store ↔️ episodic buffer ↔️ - visual cache (store)
↕️
LTM

Question 6

what are the components of the working memory model?

Answer 6

• central executive
• episodic buffer
• phonological loop
• visuo-spatial sketchpad

Question 7

what is the central executive?

Answer 7

this is known as the ‘big boss’ and it is what drives the whole system. it monitors incoming information from the sense s and decides what we pay attention to (which part of working memory to prioritise), to directs information to slave systems.
this deals with decision making and problem solving and it coordinates the retrieval of information from the LTM.

Question 8

what is the capacity like in the central executive?

Answer 8

has a very limited capacity

Question 9

what is an example of the central executive?

Answer 9

when your reading a book and someone comes into the room and turns on the TV. the central executive decided which ‘voice’ it decided to focus on. i.e. the sound of the TV or the words of the book

Question 10

what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 10

it is known as the ‘inner eye’ and it holds information held in visual form for a short period of time
e.g. how things look and where they are
it is used for navigation

Question 11

what are the parts of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 11

visual cache
inner scribe

Question 12

what is the visual cache?

Answer 12

this is what stores visual data, information about for and colour

Question 13

what is the inner scribe?

Answer 13

deals with spatial relations
e.g. the position of an object and the distance objects are apart.

Question 14

what is the phonological loop?

Answer 14

it is the part of the working memory that deals with spoken and written material (auditory/sound based information)
this may play a key role in acquiring vocabulary, particularly during early childhood years

Question 15

what is the phonological loops capacity?

Answer 15

it has a limited capacity

Question 16

what are the two parts of the phonological loop?

Answer 16

phonological store (inner ear)
articulatory process (inner voice)

Question 17

what is the phonological store?

Answer 17

it is the inner ear that remembers speech sounds (i.e. words we hear) for 1-2 seconds. if we can keep rehearsing a sound in our head, we can keep it in the phonological store

Question 18

what is an example of the phonological store?

Answer 18

when someone gives you directions and you are trying to remember them

Question 19

what is the articulatory process?

Answer 19

holds words heard or seen from the phonological store and acts as an inner voice, repeating those words over and over, as long as they’re needed
this allows us to prepare a speech, to think in words (e.g. when were reading)

Question 20

what is the episodic buffer?

Answer 20

• it is a temporary store that intergrates information from the other components to construct a mental episode of what is being experienced right now
• it gives a time stamp to memories before transferring them to the LTM

Question 21

AO3: how is ‘supporting case studies’ a strength to the working memory model?

Answer 21

Shallice and Warrington 1974 case study reported that brain damaged patient KF could recall verbal but not visual information immediately after its presentation, which supports the working memory models claim that seperate short term stores that manage phonological and visual memories

Question 22

AO3: how is ‘supporting evidence’ a strength to the working memory model?

Answer 22

there is also supporting evidence from experiments. Baddeley used a dual task method- participants were able to do a verbal and a visual task at the same time it then struggled to either do 2 verbal or 2 visual tasks at the same time. this is because both the tasks use the same component so it caused difficulty) only a multi-component STM makes sense of these results.

Question 23

AO3: how is ‘biological evidence’ a strength to the working memory model?

Answer 23

Braver et al. gave participants tasks that involved the central executive whilst they were having a brain scan. the researchers found greater activity in the left prefrontal cortex. the activity in this area increased as the task became harder. this supports the view about the working memory model as demands on the central executive increase, it has to work harder to fulfil its function.

Question 24

AO3: how is ‘confounding variables’ a limitation to the working memory model?

Answer 24

the model was based on laboratory experiments, so confounding variables could be carefully controlled to produce reliable results. however, results from laboratory experiments researching the working memory model will often have low ecological validity (i.e. ,any not related to to real life), as some task are arguably not representative of our everyday activities

Question 25

AO3: how is ‘it is too simplistic and vague’ a limitation to the working memory model?

Answer 25

despite providing more detail of the short term memory that then multi-store model, the working memory model has been criticised for being too simplistic and vague e.g. it is unclear what the central executive is, or its exact role in attention. brain scans suggest that the central executive may in fact be more than one component.