Working Memory Model WMM Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is the WMM?
The WMM was created by Baddeley and Hitch, stating that there is more going on in the STM, including the central executive, phonological loop, episodic buffer, and visuo-spatial sketchpad.
What does the dual task method by Baddeley and Hitch conclude?
The dual task method concluded that two tasks can be carried out in the STM, implying different components are responsible for different actions, supporting the WMM.
What is the role of the central executive in the WMM?
The central executive has overall control with limited capacity, gains information from our senses, and allocates brain resources to other components of the STM.
What does the phonological loop do?
The phonological loop deals with auditory information and preserves the order of information, divided into the auditory store and the articulatory process.
What is the function of the auditory store in the phonological loop?
The auditory store holds the words heard.
What does the articulatory process in the phonological loop allow?
The articulatory process allows the maintenance of acoustic information.
What is the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad?
The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad is a holding system for visual and spatial information.
What does the visual cache in the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad store?
The visual cache stores information about visual items.
What does the inner scribe in the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad do?
The inner scribe stores the arrangement of objects in the visual field.
What is the episodic buffer in the WMM?
The episodic buffer, added in 2000, provides extra storage for STM and sends information to the LTM.
AO1 WMM
-The WMM was created by Baddeley and Hitch which states that
there is more going on in the STM such as the central executive, phonological loop, episodic buffer and visuo-spatial Sketchpad
-the dual task method by baddeley hitch concluded that two tasks can be carried out in the STM
this implies that there are different components to our STM carrying out different actions which supports the wMM
-The Model starts with the central executive which has overall control and directs attention to particular task . Gains information from our senses and allocates brain resources to the components
-The phonological loop deals With auditory (sound)information and preserves the order of Information. Divided into the auditory store which holds the words heard Whilst the articulatory process allows the maintenace of acoustic information
-Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad is a holding system for visual and spatial information. The visual cache stores Information about visual items Whilst the Inner scribe stores the arrangement of objects in the visual field
-Finally in the WMM is the episodic buffer which was added in the year 2000 and has extra storage for STM but it also sends information to the LTM
What is one strength of the WMM supported by the dual task method?
A strength of the Working Memory Model is that there is research support for the dual task method.
Researchers found that people are able to complete more than one task at once using their STM – specifically the phonological loop alongside the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
This implies that there are different components to STM to facilitate dual tasking, as the WMM suggests. Therefore, the model is supported by reliable evidence from controlled experimental studies.
How does evidence from brain-damaged patients support the WMM?
Another strength is that there is supporting evidence from brain-damaged patients.
For example, it was found that KF’s forgetting was greater for auditory information than visual information in STM, as his brain damage was restricted to his phonological loop and didn’t affect his visuo-spatial sketchpad.
This means that the findings are true to real life and suggest there are separate components in STM, increasing the validity of the model.
What is a weakness of the WMM concerning the central executive?
A weakness of the Working Memory Model is that the central executive is too simplistic.
It is argued that there is more going on in this one component. For example, EVR, who had a cerebral tumour removed, was good at reasoning tasks but had poor decision-making skills.
This suggests that the central executive is more complex than the original model states and may have several subcomponents, which reduces the validity of the model’s explanation.
What is a criticism of the use of case studies in supporting the WMM?
A further weakness is the reliance on case studies of brain-damaged patients
Brain-damaged patients such as KF may find it difficult to pay attention and so may simply underperform on certain tasks.
This shows that the results of case studies are difficult to generalise to the wider population. Therefore, the model lacks representation, and the findings may not be reliable across individuals.
