4. Working Memory Model Flashcards
(29 cards)
What does WM allow you to do?
- Temporarily hold and manipulate info in front of your mind in order to complete a task
- Such as thinking about lots of numbers at once while you do mental arithmetic
Why is WM important?
- Important for executive functions (eg: concentrating, reasoning, problem-solving)
- decision-making guidance therefore your behaviour
What did B&H believe?
- STM store in MSM was too simplistic
- STM not 1 single, passive store but several active stores that all play different roles
Why did they believe this?
- 2 visual tasks done same time: perform less well than if performed separately
-1 visual task + 1 acoustic: no interference
What does term WM?
- part of memory used when working on a complex task which requires you to store info as going along
Central Executive function (CE)
- Controller of the model
- Determines which information to other ‘slave systems’
- ‘Boss’ of WM responsible for:
- monitoring incoming data
- directing attention
- coordinating activity of slave systems and allocating the resources
CE coding
- Processes info in all sensory forms
- Modality free
CE capacity
- Limited: can only cope effectively with one strand of info at 1 time
Limitations of CE
- Not well detailed: Baddley said that it is the least understood component of WMM due to complexity and possible role in many cognitive functions
- Difficult to test
Phonological loop function
- Acoustic store dealing with auditory information and the order in which we hear info
Phonological loop capacity
- Limited: determined by amount of info spoken out loud in 2 seconds
Phonological loop coding
Slave system comprised of two parts:
-Phonological store
- articulatory control process
Phonological store
- AKA inner ear
- Stores acoustic items for 1-2 seconds which afterwards will decay UNLESS rehearsed by ACT
Articulatory Control Process (ACT)
- AKA inner voice
- Stores words seen/ heard
- Allows for sub-vocal repetition of items in phonological store (maintenance rehearsal)
- Therefore these words silently repeated to keep in WM while needed
Visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS) function
- Temporary store for visual and spatial items and relationships between them
- Store for what items are & where they are
VSS capacity
- Limited: about 3/4 chunks of info
VSS coding
2 slave systems:
- visual cache
- inner scribe
Visual cache
- Stores info about form, shape, colour
Inner scribe
- Handles spatial relationships
- Transfers info from visual cache to CE
Episodic buffer function
- Temporary store for info
- Integrates visual, spatial and verbal info
- Maintains a sense of time sequencing by recording events that are happening
- Can be seen as the storage components of CE and links to STM and LTM
Episodic buffer coding
- Both auditory and visual info
Episodic buffer capacity
- Limited: about 4 chunks of info
Supporting evidence (Baddley & Hitch)
+ Demonstrated existence of VSS by using dual task research
+ Asked participants to do two tasks that would utilise VSS at same time
1. Use pointer to track point of light moving on screen
2. Describe imagining drawing letter F and say wether angles imagining at top/ bottom of image
+ Found participants could perform tasks separately without difficulty but performance of both impaired when done together
+ Because both tasks exceed capacity limit of VSS
+ 1 verbal & 1 visual task together had no effect on performance
Supporting evidence (Palesu)
+ Neuroimaging supports WMM’s concept of 2 slave systems in STM
+ Paulseu et al (1993) found whilst using PET scan that Broca’s area active whilst undertaking speech-based memory tasks (learning word list)
+ While right hemisphere more active for VS tasks (Corsi block test)
+ Braver et al (1997) gave participants tasks involving CE while having brain scan
finding greater activity in left prefrontal cortex
+ Objective, empirical, reliable research gives WMM assumptions validity as shows diff memory functions handled by diff brain regions
