working memory model Flashcards
(4 cards)
AO1
Proposed by Baddeley and Hitch, as they believed that STM was not a unitary store, like stated by the WMM. But instead it is a much more active store that can hold several pieces of information and work on them at the same time.
It is based off the dual task test in which participants were asked to perform 2 tasks at the same time, and made very few errors on either task. Therefore, they concluded STM was more than 1 component and involved in processes other than just storage.
The model begins with the central executive, which processes information from the sense organs, decides which to attend to and directs information to the appropriate slave system. It has very limited capacity, and can only cope with one type of information at a time.
The phonological loop deals with auditory information, and has 2 sub systems: the phonological store, which stores words recently heard, and the articulatory loop, which repeats words to keep them in the phonological loop. Capacity is limited to how many long words there are, rather than how many words there are.
Baddeley found that the capacity of the phonological loop was 2 seconds when reporting on the word length effect, where participants were able to recall more short words than longer words. This is because you can say more short words in 2 seconds than longer words.
The visuo-spatial sketchpad deals with visual information and spatial awareness. It has a limited capacity (3-4 objects).
The episodic buffer is a temporary store for information coded in all forms. It is new to the model and explains how people can combine and store general information from the various components of STM and LTM.
AO3 - Baddeley’s experience
Baddeley provided evidence for the fact that the visuo-spatial sketchpad and phonological loop were separate in an experience that he recorded. He was driving whilst listening to American football (a sport he was unfamiliar with) and found that he was drifting across the highway. However, after he changed to a music station he was able to drive in a straight line. This therefore supports the WMM, as when listening to football & driving, he was using his VSSP for tasks, but when he changed to music he was only using VSSP for one task and phonological loop for the other.
Baddeley devised WMM - potential bias
AO3 - case study KF
A case study of a patient (KF) who had brain damage showed that he had difficulty in processing verbal information, however his ability to process visual information was completely normal. This therefore supports WMM as it shows the existence of separate stores for visual and acoustic memory in STM.
However, case study, so cannot be generalised.
AO3 - VSSP too simplistic
Research also suggests that the visuo-spatial sketchpad is too simplistic, and should be divided into 2 further stores (the visual cache and inner scribe). This is supported by brain scans, which show activity in different areas of the brain corresponding to different types of information that are said to be processed by VSSP. This therefore suggests that the visuo-spatial sketchpad should consist of multiple components.
Additionally, brain scans are scientific. Therefore, they produce reliable results.
