The Working Memory Model

Question 1

What is the WMM?

Answer 1

An explanation of how STM is organised and how it functions

Question 2

What does the WMM consist of?

Answer 2

4 main components - central executive and 3 slave systems

Question 3

What does the central executive do?

Answer 3

Directs attention to particular tasks
Monitors incoming data
Controls the other systems by determining how resources will be allocated

Question 4

What type of capacity does the central executive have?

Answer 4

Limited processing capacity

Question 5

What does the phonological loop do?

Answer 5

Controls auditory information
Preserves the order in which information arrives

Question 6

What is the phonological loop further subdivided into?

Answer 6

The phonological store and the articulately process

Question 7

What does the phonological store do?

Answer 7

Holds information in speech based form for 1-2 seconds

Question 8

What does the articulately process do?

Answer 8

Allows maintenance rehearsal

Question 9

What is the capacity of the phonological loop?

Answer 9

2 seconds but can be maintained by the articulatory process

Question 10

What does the Visio-spatial sketch pad do?

Answer 10

Processes visual and spatial information (how things look and what they are)

Question 11

Who subdivided the Visio-spatial sketch pad?

Answer 11

Logie

Question 12

What did Logie subdivide the visuo-spatial sketch pad into?

Answer 12

The visual cache
The inner scribe

Question 13

What does the visual cache store?

Answer 13

Visual data

Question 14

What does the inner scribe do?

Answer 14

Records the arrangement of objects in the visual field

Question 15

What is the capacity of the visual spatial sketch pad?

Answer 15

Limited capacity of 3-4 objects (Baddley)

Question 16

Who added the Episodic Buffer to the WMM?

Answer 16

Baddeley

Question 17

What is the episodic buffer?

Answer 17

A temporary store for information, integrating the visual, spatial and verbal information processed by the other stores and maintaining a sense of time sequencing

Question 18

What can the episodic buffer be seen as for the central executive?

Answer 18

The storage unit

Question 19

What is the capacity of the episodic buffer?

Answer 19

Limited capacity of about 4 chunks

Question 20

What does the episodic buffer link?

Answer 20

The WMM to LTM and wider cognitive processes such as perception

Question 21

What are the parts of the WMM called?

Answer 21

The central executive
The phonological loop
The visuo- spatial sketch pad
Episodic buffer

Question 22

Evaluation point: clinical evidence

Answer 22

-One strength of the WMM is the case study of KF
-After a brain injury KF had poor STM ability for auditory information but could process visual information normally
-KF’s phonological loop was damaged but visuo-spatial sketch pad was intact
-This finding strongly supports the existence of separate visual and acoustic memory stores

Question 23

Evaluation point: dual-task performance

Answer 23

• One strength is studies of dual-task performance support the separate existence of the visuo-spatial sketch pad
• Baddeley eat al’s ppts carried out a visual and verbal task at the same time
• their performance on each task was similar to when tasks were carried out separately
• When both tasks were visual or verbal performance declined substantially
• This is because both visual tasks compete for the same slave subsystem
• This shows there must be a separate lave system processing visual information and another for verbal processing

Question 24

Evaluation point: nature of the central executive

Answer 24

• One limitation is there is a lack of clarity over the nature of the central executive
• Baddeley recognised this when he spoke about how the central executive is the most important part of the WMM but the least understood
• The CE needs to be more clearly defined than just attention
• this means the CE is an unsatisfactory component and this challenges the WMM integrity

Question 25

Evaluation point: validity of the model

Answer 25

• studies supporting dual-task performance use tasks that are unlikely to be performed everyday
• e.g identifying the correct order of letters such as A and B or recalling random sequences of letters
• These studies are also carried out in highly controlled lab conditions where presentation of the stimulus is precisely timed