4.1.2 Working Memory Model

Question 1

who was the working memory model (WMM) proposed by?

Answer 1

baddeley & hitch (1974)

Question 2

what did baddeley & hitch criticise the multi-store model (MSM)?

Answer 2

• as overly simplistic
• particularly with regard to short-term memory (STM)

Question 3

how does the WMM view STM differently from the MSM?

Answer 3

• STM can be sub-divided into distinct components
• STM is not a unitary store, unlike in the MSM

Question 4

what type of memories does the WMW explain?

Answer 4

• memories related to working on tasks that require immediate memory information
• refers to the ‘here-and-now’ function of STM

Question 5

what are the 4 components of the working memory model (WMM)?

Answer 5

• central executive (CE)
• phonological loop (CE)
• visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS)
• episodic buffer (EB)

Question 6

what is the role of the central executive in WMM?

Answer 6

• to focus attention on the most important tasks that need attending to in the current moment

Question 7

what does the central executive (CE) coordinate in WMM?

Answer 7

• the CE coordinates the 3 other components of the WMM by allocating them to different tasks

Question 8

what are the phonological loop (PL), visio-spatial sketchpad (VSS) & episodic buffer (EB) known as in the working memory model in WMM?

Answer 8

• they are known as the ‘slave systems’
• each is controlled & coordinated by the central executive (CE)

Question 9

what capacity does the central executive (CE) have in WMM?

Answer 9

• limited capacity
• cannot store information

Question 10

what is the phonological loop slave system responsible for in WMM?

Answer 10

• processing auditory & verbal information
• coding in the PL is acoustic

Question 11

what does the phonological loop do for acoustic information in WMM?

Answer 11

• the PL preserves the order in which acoustic information is processed

Question 12

what are the 2 divisions of the phonological loop in WMM?

Answer 12

• the phonological store (PL)
• the articulatory process

Question 13

what is the phonological store of PL in the working memory model?

Answer 13

• this component temporarily stores spoken & heard words for a short period of time (the inner ear)

Question 14

what is the articulatory process of PL in the working memory model?

Answer 14

• this component rehearses verbal information through subvocal repetition & converts written words into a phonological (verbal) code
• allowing them to be stored in the phonological store

Question 15

how is information maintained in the phonological loop & does it transfer to long-term memory (in WMM)?

Answer 15

• information in the PL is maintained through maintenance rehearsal
• this does not automatically result in transfer to LTM
• this is different from the MSM, where rehearsal leads to transfer to LTM

Question 16

what capacity does the PL have in the working memory model?

Answer 16

• limited capacity

Question 17

what is the role of the visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS) in the working memory model?

Answer 17

• the visuo-spatial sketchpad is a slave system in the WMM
• it is responsible for storing visual and/or spatial information
• information is held temporarily for immediate processing

Question 18

how is information stored in the visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS) in WMM?

Answer 18

info is temporarily stored in the VSS

Question 19

what is the capacity of the visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS) in WMM?

Answer 19

• the VSS has a limited capacity

Question 20

what can the VSS be divided into in WMM?

Answer 20

• 2 components
• the visual cache
• & the inner scribe

Question 21

what is the visual cache in the working memory model?

Answer 21

• the visual cache stores visual data
• e.g. colour, shape

Question 22

what is the inner scribe in the working memory model?

Answer 22

• the inner scribe stores the arrangement of objects within the visual field of view

Question 23

what is the function of the episodic buffer (eb) in the working memory model?

Answer 23

• the episodic buffer receives information from the ce, pl and vss
• it integrates this information into ‘episodes’

Question 24

how does the episodic buffer organise information?

Answer 24

• the episodic buffer records information as episodes
• the information is time-sequenced

Question 25

how is information stored in the episodic buffer?

Answer 25

• information is stored temporarily by the episodic buffer

Question 26

what is the relationship between the episodic buffer and long-term memory?

Answer 26

• the episodic buffer is separate from ltm • it forms an important stage in long-term episodic learning

Question 27

what is the capacity of the episodic buffer?

Answer 27

- limited capacity

Question 28

strengths of working memory model: case study evidence supports separate components in stm

Answer 28

• the case study of kf (shallice & warrington, 1970) offers support for the wmm • kf suffered a brain injury after which his stm was severely impaired • kf struggled to process verbal/auditory information but his ability to recall visual information was unaffected • this shows that there are different slave systems in working memory for verbal/auditory information and visual informations

Question 29

strengths of working memory model: dual-task performance supports the central executive

Answer 29

• baddeley (1976) used the dual-task performance effect to test the wmm • participants performed a digit span task (repeating numbers) and a verbal reasoning task (true/false questions) at the same time • as the number of digits increased, participants took slightly longer to answer the reasoning task • baddeley concluded that the verbal reasoning task used the central executive (ce) and the digit span task used the phonological loop (pl) • this supports the idea that different components of stm handle different types of information

Question 30

limitations of working memory model: limited understanding of the central executive (ce)

Answer 30

• there is a lack of detail on the role of the ce • the ce is difficult to operationalise and measure in experiments • it is possible that there is more than one central component, but this has not yet been established with empirical evidence

Question 31

limitations of working model memory: low ecological validity

Answer 31

• the dual-task performance effect relies on highly controlled lab conditions • tasks used are often unrelated to real-life scenarios • this lack of ‘realness’ lowers the ecological validity of research supporting the wmm

Question 32

worked example – strength of wmm:

Answer 32

• braver et al. (1997) found activity in the prefrontal cortex increased when participants were given an increasingly difficult task • this supports the wmm because as the demands on the central executive increase, the harder it has to work

Question 33

evaluate wmm – shallice and warrington 1970 clinical evidence: separate STM stores

Answer 33

strength – clinical evidence • one strength is support from tim shallice and elizabeth warrington’s (1970) case study of patient kf. • after his brain injury, kf had poor stm ability for acoustic (sound) information but he could process visual information just as well as before his injury. • for instance, his immediate recall of letters and digits was better when he read them (visual) than when they were read to him (acoustic). • kf’s phonological loop was damaged but his visuo-spatial sketchpad was intact. • this finding strongly supports the existence of separate subsystems for visual and acoustic information.

Question 34

evaluate wmm – shallice and warrington 1970 counterpoint: other cognitive issues

Answer 34

counterpoint – other cognitive issues • however, it is unclear whether kf had other cognitive issues (apart from damage to his phonological loop) which might have affected his performance on memory tasks. • for example, his injury was caused by a motorcycle accident. • the trauma involved may have affected his cognitive performance quite apart from any brain injury. • this challenges evidence that comes from clinical studies of people with brain injuries that may have affected many different systems.

Question 35

evaluate wmm – smith and jonides 1997 neuroimaging evidence

Answer 35

strength – neuroimaging evidence • another strength is evidence from brain scans for the existence of subsystems in working memory. • edward smith and john jonides (1997) used pet scans to show that tasks using the phonological loop were linked to activation in the left temporal and frontal lobes. • tasks using the visuo-spatial sketchpad were associated with activity in the right parietal lobe. • tasks requiring the central executive were associated with widespread activation in the frontal cortex. • this study, and others like it, provide reliable and objective evidence for working memory’s subsystems.

Question 36

evaluate wmm – baddeley 2003 limitation: central executive

Answer 36

limitation – nature of the central executive • one limitation is that there is a lack of clarity over the nature of the central executive. • baddeley (2003) himself recognised this when he said, “The central executive is the most important but the least understood component of working memory. The ce needs to be more clearly specified than just being simply ‘attention.’” • for example, some psychologists believe the ce may consist of separate subcomponents. • this means that the ce is an unsatisfactory component and this challenges the integrity of the wmm.

Question 37

evaluate wmm – dual-task studies evaluation eXtra: validity of the model

Answer 37

evaluation eXtra – validity of the model • dual-task performance supports the wmm because two tasks that share a subsystem are much harder to perform together than tasks that involve separate subsystems. • this shows there must be separate components in working memory (e.g., vss and pl). • however, these studies use tasks that are very unlike the tasks we perform in our everyday lives (e.g., identifying the correct order of letters, recalling random sequences of letters). • the studies are also carried out in highly-controlled lab conditions (e.g., where presentation of stimuli is precisely timed).