M : Working memory model Flashcards
(17 cards)
KT: Central executive?
Monitors and coordinates all other mental functions in working memory.
Episodic buffer?
Receives input from many sources, temporarily stores this information, and then integrates it in order to construct a mental epsiode of what is being experienced.
Phonological loop?
Codes speech sounds in working memory, typically involving maintenance rehearsal (repeating the words over and over again). This is why this component of the working memory is referred to as a ‘loop’.
Visuo-spatial sketchpad?
Codes visual information in terms of seperate objects as well as the arrangement of these objects in one’s visual field.
Working memory model?
An explanation of the memory used when working on a task. Each store is qualitatively different.
What did Baddeley and Hitch feel about the STM?
Felt it was not just one store, but a number of different stores.
Why did Baddeley and Hitch think that the STM wasn’t just one store & what did this suggest?
- If you do two things at the same time ( dual task performance) & they are both visual tasks, you perform them less well than if you do them seperately.
- If you do two things at the same time & one is visual whereas the other involves sound, then there is no interference. You do them as well simultaneously as you would do them seperately.
This suggests that there is one store for visual processing & a seperate store for processing sounds. This formed the basis of the WMM where ‘slave systems’ are organised by a central executive.
What is the function of the Central Executive?
- To direct attention to particular tasks, determining at any time how the brains ‘resources’ are allocated to tasks.
- The resources are the three slave systems. Data arrive from the senses or from long-term memory.
- The CE has a very limited capacity, it can’t attend to too many things at once and has no capacity for storing data.
Whats the capacity of the Central Executive?
Has a very limited capacity!
What is the capacity of the Phonological loop?
Has a limited capacity!
What does the phonological loop deal with?
Deals with auditory information and preserves the order of information.
How did Baddeley further divide the phonological loop?
The phonological store which holds the words you hear, like an inner ear.
An articulatory process which is used for words that are heard or seen. These words are silently repeated (looped), like an inner voice. This is a form of maintenance rehearsal.
Visuo-spatial sketchpad
When is it used?
- When you have to plan a spatial task (like getting from one room to another or counting the number of windows in your house).
- Visual and/or spatial information is temporarily stored here. Visual information is what things look like. Spatial information is the physical relationship between things.
Visuo-spatial sketchpad
What did Logie (1995) suggest that the visuo-spatial sketchpad can be divided into?
- A visual cache which stores information about visual items, e.g. form and colour.
- An inner scribe which stores the arrangement of objects in the visual field.
Why did Baddeley (2000) add the episodic buffer?
He realised that the model needed a general store.
The phonological loop & visuo-spatial sketchpad deal with processing & temporary storage of specific kinds of information.
Episodic buffer
What is the central executives capacity like and what did this mean?
Has no storage capacity- so there was nowhere to hold this information that relates to both visual and acoustic information.
The episodic buffer is an extra storage system that relates to both visual and acoustic information. The episodic buffer is an extra storage system that has, in common with all working memory units, limited capacity.
Where does the episodic buffer integrate information from?
- From the central executive, the phonological loop & the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
- It also maintains a sense of time sequencing- basically recording events (episodes) that are happening. The episodic buffer sends information to LTM.
