WMM Flashcards
(12 cards)
Who developed the WMM
Baddeley and Hitch- they contested Atkinson and Shiffrin by using KF, he could transfer new information to his LTM, while having a digit span of 2- this suggests that although his STM had been disrupted, there must have been other aspects of his STM that were still functioning. They concluded that STM must be made up of several components all of which are involved in processes other than simple storage.
What is working memory
STM is a workspace where a variety of operations (auditory and visual) can be carried out. It splits up the STM in the phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad and episodic buffer
Central executive
-Its a supervisory component (slave driver). It has overall control of working memory.
-Capacity- limited but processes info from any sensory system
-Responsibilities: monitors info coming in, decides what to pay attention to, allocates tasks to the slave systems.
Slave system 1- Phonological loop
-The inner voice, deals with auditory information
-consists of a phonological store which holds words that are heard, and an articulatory loop which allows maintenance rehearsal
-Capacity: 2 seconds worth of what you can say. ( word length effect)
Word length effect
-The capacity of the phonological loop is determined by the length of time it takes to say the words. if the word is polysyllabic, it is harder to remember.
-this makes it hard to remember a list of long words because the rehearsal takes longer than 2 seconds
Slave system 2- The visuo-spatial sketchpad
-stores visual information for when it is required- sometimes referred to as the inner eye- it holds visual and spatial information
-it has 2 subsystem: the visual cache- stores visual data (things that you see)
-The inner scribe: records the arrangement of objects in the visual field.
Dual task performance
States that people can perform 2 task at the time as long as the tasks use different components of the working memory system. However if they are using the same parts of the same component, processing will slow down.
Episodic buffer
-Added to the model in 2000.
-The central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad have very limited capacity. In order to start to form a memory, the episodic buffer will process the information from all of these components and integrate it (put it all together) It links working memory to LTM
Evaluation- Supporting studies
point- KF case study
example- suffered brain damage after a motorcycle accident and he could process visual information but struggled with verbal information
explain- this supports the existence of 2 separate stores within STM. Because it would seem like his phonological loop is the only store to have been affected and his visuo-spatial sketchpad was still functioning. therefore proving the existence of 2 separate stores
Evaluation- Applications
point- There are practical applications of thw WMM
example- The model has been argued to be able to be used to help children with attention deficits hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
evidence- These children have deficits in WM and the model can provide practical suggestions for helping them such as breaking down info into manageable chunks with frequent repetition
Evidence- Lab experiments
point- Support from lab experiments
example- Baddeley found that ppts had difficulty tracking moving light and describing the angle of a letter. Other ppts had little difficulty in tracking the light while performing a verbal task.
explain- This because the first group had to do 2 visual tasks, whereas the second group did one visual and one verbal. this suggesting there are separate parts of STM that deals with verbal and visual information
Evaluation- How useful?
point-Not that useful as not all aspects of the model are fully understood
evidence- Baddeley himself said that the central executive is the most important and least understood component
explain- it has been argued that it has limited capacity, but it hasn’t been researched properly with any precision. It is usually defined as being ‘attention’ but it is likely to have other components that just haven’t been researched yet.
