Working Memory Model Flashcards
(29 cards)
Who was the Working Memory Model (WMM) created by?
Baddeley and Hitch
Why was the Working Memory Model created?
• To replace the STM store of the Multi-store model of memory due to criticisms of the STM
What criticisms of the STM led to the WMM to be created?
• STM must be more complex than just a single unitary store that passes information to the LTM
• STM must be an active processor, holding multiple different types of information simultaneously
What are the 4 different systems/ subsystems of the Working Memory Model for STM?
• Central executive
• Visuo-spatial Sketchpad
• Episodic Buffer
• Phonological Loop
What is the Central executive known as?
“Head of the model”
What does the Central executive do?
• Controls attention
• Recieves sense information
• Filters sense information before passing onto sub systems
What is the Central executive limited in?
Capacity (4 items), can only work on one type of information at a time
Can switch attention between different inputs
What does the Visuo-spatial sketchpad do? What is it known as?
• Processes visual and spatially coded information
• Known as the “inner eye”
What 2 stores are within the Visuo-spatial sketchpad?
• Visual cache
• Inner scribe
What is the Visual Cache?
A passive store of form and colour
What is the inner scribe?
Active store holding the relationships between objects in 3D space
What does the phonological loop do?
Processes auditory coded information
What two stores are apart of the phonological loop?
• Primary acoustic/phonological store
• Articulatory process
What is the primary accoustic/phonlogical store known as?
The inner ear
What does the priamry acoustic/phonological store do?
Holds words recently heard
What is the articulatory process known as?
The inner voice
What does the articulatory process do?
Holds information via sub-vocal repetition
What is the phonological loop limited in?
Limited in capacity, around what can be said in 2 seconds
When was the episodic buffer added to the WMM?
Later- In 2000
Why was the episodic buffer added later?
The model needed a general store to hold and integrate information from the visuo-spatial sketchpad, phonological loop, central executive and LTM
What 4 things does the episodic buffer hold and integrate information from?
• Visuo-spatial sketchpad
• Phonological loop
• Central executive
• LTM
What study suggests that the Visuo-spatial sketchpad and phonological loop exist as separate systems and that the VSS can be overwhelmed?
• Baddeley
• Participants asked to perform 2 visual tasks together:
- Tracking moving lights at the same time as describing the angles of the letter F
• Or a visual and verbal task together
• Performance was much better when the tasks were not using the same processing
What study suggests the phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad subsystems are seperate processes located in seperate brain regions?
• Shallice and Warrington
• Investigate clinical case of KF
• It was found KF has a selective impairment to his verbal STM caused by a brain injury
- However, visual functioning if his STM not affected
What study suggests that the episodic buffer exists in the prefrontal cortex?
• Prabhakaran et al
• Using brain imaging (fMRI scans), researchers asked participants to complete tasks with equal ammounts of spatial and verbal information
- However, in one condition the spatial and verbal information was seperate, in the other it was integrated
• It was found there was more activation in the prefrontal cortex when information is integrated, but more activation in posterior brain regions when information was not integrated
