working memory model Flashcards
(22 cards)
who proposed the working memory model (WMM)?
-baddely & hitch (1974)
-they criticised the multi store model (MSM) as it is overly simplistic, particularly with regard to STM
how does the WMM work?
-it shows that STM can be subdivided into distinct components, and isn’t a unitary store (as proposed by MSM)
-it explains memories related to working on tasks that require immediate memory formation THUS refers to the ‘here-and-now’ STM function of memory
what are the 4 components of the WMM?
-central executive (CE)
-phonological loop (PL)
-visuospatial sketchpad (VSS)
-episodic buffer (EB
what is the role of the central executive?
to focus attention on the most important tasks that need attending to in the current moment.
how does the CE coordinate the 3 other components of the WMM?
via allocating them different tasks; which means that the EP, VSS & PL are ‘slave systems’.
what is the capacity of the CE?
it has a limited capacity, as we can only take so much info into account & cannot store info.
what is the phonological loop (PE)?
it’s a slave system, responsible for coordinating auditory information, with coding being acoustic, and preserving the order in which acoustic information is processed.
what are the 2 components of the phonological loop?
-the phonological store (stores spoken words, also referred to as the inner ear)
-the articulatory process (stores written words, which is also known as the inner voice, in which words are repeated in a loop as part of maintenance rehearsal, but aren’t passed onto the LTM)
what is the capacity of the phonological loop?
it has a limited capacity (around 2 seconds)
what is the visuospatial sketchpad (VSS)?
it’s a component of the WMM that’s the slave system responsible or storing visual/ and or spatial information.
how is information stored in the visuospatial sketchpad?
it is only stored temporarily, as it has a limited capacity.
what 2 sections can the visuospatial sketchpad be divided into?
-the visual cache (stores visual data, like colour/shape)
-the inner scribe (stores the arrangement of objects within the visual field of view)
what is the function of the episodic buffer?
it integrates information into ‘episodes’, bridges between working memory and ltm. Temporary store of information.
how is information stored within the episodic buffer?
-it’s stored temporarily
-it’s separate from the LTM, but it forms an important stage in long-term episodic learning
-it’s capacity is pretty limited
what are the 2 strengths of the WMM?
-the WMM is supported but he case study of KF (shallice & warrington, 1970)
-dual task performance effect (baddely, 19760 may provide evidence of a central executive
what happened to case study KF?
-he was involved in a motorcycle accident in which he acquired a significant head injury
-the brain injury led to his STM being severely impaired, and he struggled to process verbal/auditory information, but his ability to recall visual info wasn’t impaired (could only remember 2-3 items from a list)
how do KF’S injuries provide evidence for the WMM?
it demonstrates that there may be different slave systems in the working memory that code for verbal/auditory information & visual information.
what is the dual task performance effect?
if 2 tasks of the same type (eg- both visual or both verbal), are carried out, the results show that the outcomes are much lower as compared to if 2 different tasks were carried out.
how did baddely (1976) research the dual-task performance effect?
-participants were asked to perform a digit span task (repeating a list of numbers) and a verbal reasoning task (answering true/false questions) at the same time
-as the number of digits increased, participants took longer to answer the true/false questions (though not significantly longer)
what are the 2 limitations of the WMM?
-there is a lack of detail in the role of the CE
-the dual task performance effect relies highly on controlled lab conditions
what does a lack of detail of the CE show?
it may be due to the fact that the CE is very difficult to operationalise & measure, thus there may be more than one central component to the CE (however to this dat ethics has not been established with any empirical evidence).
why does the dual-task effect study provide limited evidence?
-it relies on highly controlled lab conditions, and uses tasks that are unrelated to real-life scenarios.
-this lack of ‘realness’ lowers the ecological validity of research within this field, which in turn lowers the scope of it’s overall internal validity.
