Working memory model

Question 1

Outline the purpose, coding and capacity of the central executive.

Answer 1

Purpose: To allocate attention to the other memory stores and monitoring incoming data.
Coding: Modality free- does not store info
Capacity: Limited.

Question 2

Outline the purpose, coding and capacity of the visuo-spatial sketchpad.

Answer 2

Visuo-spatial sketchpad: visual-cache (visual data)
and inner scribe (spatial data)
Purpose: The ‘inner eye’ and stores visual and spatial information.
Coding: Visual or spatial
Capacity: 3-4 objects

Question 3

Outline the purpose, coding and capacity of the episodic buffer.

Answer 3

Purpose: Temporary store of information and events and links with LTM
Coding: Visual/spatial and acoustic
Capacity: Limited, about 4 chunks

Question 4

Outline the purpose, coding and capacity of the phonological loop.

Answer 4

Phonological store and Articulatory process
Purpose: Is the ‘inner voice’ and stores acoustic information.
Coding: Auditory
Capacity: 2 seconds worth of information

Question 5

What are the strengths of the working memory model?

Answer 5

+ Case study of KF who had amnesia due to a bike accident.
STM of digits was poor when he heard (acoustic) them.
STM of digits was better when he saw (visual) them. This supports the WMM because his visuo- spatial sketchpad was damaged but his phonological loop was intact.
+ Dual task performance – evidence for VSS & PL
Baddeley:
PP’s carried out a verbal task and a visual task at the same time and compared this to two visual tasks or two verbal tasks). Findings: When the two tasks were carried out using the same slave system participants found it harder than when using different slave systems.
+Research into capacity of PL
Baddeley;
Condition 1: Participants were shown 5 monosyllabic words e.g. yield
Condition 2: Participants were shown 5 polysyllabic words e.g. meditation
Findings: recall was better for the monosyllabic words so capacity of the PL is not the number of items but is the time it takes to say the word. (about 2 secs)

Question 6

What are the weaknesses of the working memory model?

Answer 6

• Counterpoint: However, trauma might have led to other cognitive impairments that impacted his memory performance.
• Counterpoint: The experiment lacks ecological validity because the tasks the participants were asked to carry out where not representative of real- life scenarios where the WMM may be exercised.
• Counterpoint: Though phonological loop easy to test, the role of the central executive is difficult to test. Test methods for the central executive are abstract whereas other stores are easy to test.