Working Memory Model

Question 1

Who proposed the WMM?

Answer 1

Baddeley and Hitch believed the STM was not just one unitary store and is an active process

Question 2

Central Executive

Answer 2

Central Executive

• monitors info coming in from different stores
• decides what to pay attention to
• allocates tasks to different slave systems
• limited capacity
• modality free

Question 3

Episodic Buffer

Answer 3

Episodic Buffer

• receives info from CE and other slave systems
• general store for visual and acoustic info
• temporarily stores info to be worked on
• integrates info into LTM
• modality free

Question 4

Phonological Loop

Answer 4

Phonological Loop

• auditory info and order of info
  1. Phonological store - holds words that are heard ‘inner ear’
  2. Articulatory control process - allows maintenance rehearsal ‘inner voice’, capacity 2secs

Question 5

Visuospatial Sketchpad

Answer 5

Visuospatial Sketchpad

• stores visual and spatial info ‘inner eye’
  1. Visual cache - stores visual data
  2. Inner scribe - records arrangements of objects in visual field
• capacity 3-4 items

Question 6

KEY STUDIES

Answer 6

KEY STUDIES

• Braver et al - fMRI
• Baddeley et al - word length effect
• Baddeley and Hitch - VSS

Question 7

BRAVER ET AL

Answer 7

Braver et al - central executive

• activity in the CE should be increased when an individual has to perform 2 tasks simultaneously
• used fMRI scans on ppts carrying out tasks involving CE
• found greater activity in left prefrontal cortex
• activity increased in this area as task became harder

Question 8

BADDELEY ET AL

Answer 8

Baddeley et al - phonological loop

• presented words for very brief time
• one condition: 5 monosyllabic words
• two condition: 5 polysyllabic words
• better recall on shorter words - word length effect
• limited space for rehearsal in articulatory process
• effect disappears under articulatory suppression (speaking while item is presented) rehearsal cant occur

Question 9

BADDELEY AND HITCH

Answer 9

Baddeley and Hitch - visuospatial sketchpad

• dual-task performance
• 2 visual tasks at same time = worse performance on each as they both depend on VSS
• if one is visual (copying a drawing) and the other is auditory (remebering sequence of numbers) there is no interference

Question 10

EVALUATION (4)

Answer 10

EVALUATION

• Case study of KF
• fMRI brain scans - Braver et al
• scientific evidence
• lack of evidence for exact function of CE

Question 11

EVAL: Case study of KF

Answer 11

Case study of KF

• KF was in motorcycle accident and damaged left occipital lobe
• STM damaged, LTM normal
• remembers words if presented visually as opposed to auditorally
• suggest STM has an acoustic and visual component that exist independently from eachother
• strength as model can explain real-life behaviour, high explanatory power = high external validity
• C/A low population validity - KF abnormal case

Question 12

EVAL: fMRI scans suggest CE is located in the pre-frontal cortex

Answer 12

fMRI scans suggest CE is located in the pre-frontal cortex

• Braver et al asked ppts to perform single and dual tasks while having their brain scanneed for activity
• CE most active during dual-task experiments, this increased as CE had to pay attention and decide wich slave systems to allocate tasks to
• objective and empirical evidence of activity and location
• C/A activity does not equal function

Question 13

EVAL: Scientific evidence that supports separate components

Answer 13

Scientific evidence that supports separate components

• Baddeley et al performed spatial tasks (upper and lower parts of capital F) and visual tasks (following laser pointer)
• performance worse for two visual tasks as both use VSS
• empirical research, reliable and high control
• word length effect by Baddely et al suggests people cope better with shorter words as articulatory process has limited rehearsal capacity
• explains real-life events e.g why larger pieces of info are more difficult to hold in STM like shopping lists
• gives model scientific credibility overall

Question 14

EVAL: Lack of evidence for eexact function of CE

Answer 14

Lack of evidence for eexact function of CE

• inferences such as paying attention and allocating tasks to slave systems
• little empirical evidence to support these claims
• Shah and Myake question whether CE is a single component or whether are separate verbal and spatial WM systems
• weakness, role is unclear and not fully supported by evidence
• model only focuses on STM, no info on LTM or SR
• unable to explain how info enters WM and is transfered to LTM
• limited application to everyday human memory