Working Memory Model (Baddeley and Hitch) Flashcards
AO1 and AO3 (6 cards)
Working Memory Model AO1 (overview)
Working Memory Model is a cognitive model that describes short term memory.
The model consists of three main components, also known as slave systems: the Central Executive, the Phonological Loop, and the Visuospatial Sketchpad.
Central Executive: Modality Free (can process information from the 5 senses) This works as a control centre and directs attention to particular tasks, memory retrieval and decision making. It does not store information and has a limited capacity.
Phonological Loop: This is involved with the temporary storage of auditory information. It has two parts - The phonological store (Hold words that we hear, and has a memory chase of 1.5 to 2 seconds.) and the articulatory control system (allows for subvocalised repetition, and is a verbal rehearsal system that holds words that we have seen, heard, about to say and silently repeated)
Visuospatial Sketchpad: This temporarily stores and manipulates visual and spatial information. Sets up and manipulates metal images as well as remembering shapes and colours or the location of objects
Episodic Buffer: Baddeley added this in 2000. It acts as a ‘backup’ store which communicates with both long term memory and the components of working memory.
what is Phonological Similarity Effect
words that sounds similar will have poorer recall. This explains why there would be poorer recall with acoustically similar word than with semantically similar words.
what is dual task performance
Dual Task Performance: The model can explain how we can do two tasks at once, as long as they use different processing systems.
If one store is utilised for both tasks, then task performance is poorer than when they are completed separately, due to the store’s limited capacity. For example: peating “the the the” aloud and reading some text silently would use the articulatory-phonological loop for both tasks, slowing performance.
Word Length Effect: Shorter words are more easily recorded than longer words. If the word is polysyllabic it is harder to remember, as the rehearsal of the word takes longer then 2 seconds.
Evaluate WMM in terms of Evidence:
(+) There is strong evidence that suggest STM has separate stores. The KF Case Study supports Working Memory. KF suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident that damaged his short-term memory. KF struggled to process verbal information but his visual memory was unaffected. This shows that visual information (VSSP) is processed separately from verbal information (phonological loop).
(+) Dual Task Performance studies have supported the existence of the visuospatial sketchpad. For Example: Baddeley made participants do a visual (eg: writing, reading, and drawing) and verbal task simultaneously. Then separately he made participants do two visual tasks simultaneously. He found that when they performed the 2 visual tasks at the same time, performance decided as they were using the same slave systems. This supported the WMM as it shows that there are separate slave systems for visual and verbal tasks, and that they have a limited capacity- leading to a cognitive overload.
(+) Neuroscience research supported the localisation of the different slave systems in the brain. For example: PET scans have shown that the phonological loop is localised in the parietal Lobe. and that the phonological store is located in the left frontal lobe. Supporting the claim that slave systems are separate regions of the brain.
Evaluate WMM in terms of Criticisms
(-) There are criticisms over the descriptions of the Central Executive. Baddeley mentioned that the central executive is the most misunderstood. The CE needs to more clearly defined then simply “attention” This is a weakness as the CE is too reductionist and fails to provide a complete explanation of memory.
Evaluate WMM in terms of: How good the research is
(-) There have been strong evidence against the description of the Visuospatial sketchpad. For example: Lieberman 1980, criticises the WMM when explaining that blind people have spatial memory- as they remember where things are and not bumping into them, without ever having any visual information.
CA- Logie 1995 responded to this and developed the VSSP. He suggested that it had two stores: the visual cache (encodes colour) and the inner scribe (encodes information around movement) This is shows that blind people have an inner scribe, which allows them to remember visual information when moving around.
