working memory model (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974)

Question 1

who proposed the working memory model?

Answer 1

baddeley and hitch

Question 2

describe the function of the central executive

Answer 2

• attention
• monitor overall memory system
• allocates cog memory tasks to appropriate sub-system
• slave driver

Question 3

how much capacity does the central executive have?

Answer 3

• regarded as having limited capacity
• modality free: able to process different forms of info eg acoustic, visual

Question 4

what is the phonological loop?

Answer 4

• slave system
• holds speech for about 2 secs before decay
• deals with temporary storage of verbal info

Question 5

what two components does the phonological loop have?

Answer 5

• articulatory loop
• primary acoustic store

Question 6

describe primary acoustic store

Answer 6

• inner ear
• sound info goes in there directly and remembers sound in order
• only able to hold limited info for few seconds
  
  • could be extended if info refreshed using articulatory loop (rehearsal)

Question 7

what can the primary acoustic store explain?

Answer 7

• phonological similarity effect
  
  • more difficult to remember similar sounding words and letters compared to words and letters that sound **difference*(
• however, this effect isn’t true for remembering words that has semantic similarity or words that were semantically unrelated
• shows it relies on acoustic encoding for storage

Question 8

describe the articulatory loop

Answer 8

• inner voice
• info repeated to maintain trace
• used to explain word length effect
  
  • short monosyllabic words recalled more successfully than longer polysyllabic words
• longer words filled limited capacity of articulatory loop
  
  • decay of words positioned earlier in list
• longer the word, the more capacity was used up and forgetting was more likely

Question 9

describe the visuospatial sketchpad (vssp)

Answer 9

• slave system
• temporarily hold and manipulate visual and spatial info
• spatial awareness, eg finding way through building or puzzle
• can deal with visuospatial info either by directly observing images or retrieving info from ltm
• maintain and integrate visual and spatial info
• also rehearses info and transfers to central executive
• limited to 3-4 objects