COGNITIVE- Working Memory Model

Question 1

Who proposed the Working Memory Model?

Answer 1

Baddeley & Hitch, 1974

Question 2

What did B & H observe with the STM that couldn’t be explained by the MSM?

Answer 2

Participants were able to complete dual-task procedures (1 visual and 1 verbal) at the same time, while completing 2 of a certain type would impair performance

Question 3

Central Executive

Answer 3

-The supervisory store that monitors the overall memory systems (MODALITY FREE/Does NOT store information)
-Filters what information is taken from the SR while retrieving from om the LTM, to apply to assigned tasks
-Assigns tasks to the PL & VSSP
-Has a limited attention capacity of 4 items

Question 4

What are the different slave systems in the WMM?

Answer 4

-Visuospatial Sketchpad
-Phonological Loop

Question 5

Visuospatial Sketchpad (VSSP)

Answer 5

-1st slave-system that processes visual input and spatial information
-Temporarily stores and manipulates the two types of information
-Consists of 2 sub-stores: The Visual Cache (passive store which hold images), and The Inner Scribe (active store that manipulates the 2 types of information)

Question 6

Phonological Loop

Answer 6

-2nd slave-system that processes and stored auditory information
-2 sub-systems
-No specific capacity, determined by the ‘Word Length Effect’

Question 7

What are the sub-stores of the Phonological Loop called?

Answer 7

-Articulatory Process (inner voice)
-Phonological Store (inner ear)

Question 8

Articulatory Process

Answer 8

Called the ‘inner voice’, rehearses information through SUB-VOCALISING to maintain information in the short-term (maintenance rehearsal)

Question 9

Phonological Store

Answer 9

Called the ‘inner ear’, that holds onto information for approx. 2s

Question 10

Sub-vocalising

Answer 10

Repetition of words in your head/forming words with lips silently while reading

Question 11

Episodic Buffer

Answer 11

Binds memories from the VSSP & Phonological loop into single episodes; combining both visual & verbal information
-Can also recall from the LTM to form conscious memory

Question 12

When was the Episodic Buffer added to the WMM theory of Memory?

Answer 12

Year 2000, 26 years after the theory was first created

Question 13

The Word Length Effect

Answer 13

-The process of subvocalising information learnt (words) where longer words are harder to remember due to taking a longer amount of time to sub-vocalise

Question 14

Baddeley & Hitch, dual-task experiments (STRENGTH)

Answer 14

-In dual-task procedures, completing to visual/verbal tasks at once leads to significant difficulty in performance, however completing one visual & one verbal task at once means that performance isn’t impacted
-Suggests that the VSSP & PL are separate stores with limited capacity

Question 15

PET Scan Evidence; Paulesau et al. (STRENGTHS)

Answer 15

-In fMRI scans, different brain activity can be seen when completing different types of memory tasks;
–VISUAL: Occipital & parietal lobes
–VERBAL: Inferior parietal cortex & Broca’s area

Question 16

Evidence from case Studies: KF(STRENGTHS)

Answer 16

KF: Brain damage to occipital lobe after motorbike accident; LTM remained intact, STM impaired (only able to remember 2 digits at any one time)
-Forgetting of AUDITORY STIMULI>VISUAL STIMULI
-Able to transfer information to LTM

Question 17

Darling (STRENGTHS)

Answer 17

Tested the VSSP; showing a apitalised and lowercas ‘Pp’ on certain parts of a screen, where at some points flashig lights were used to interfere with participant’s recall of where the ‘p’ on the screen was
-Showed that the VSSP can VISUALise where the ‘p’ is, and can understand the SPACE it’s in, and with interference, this recall was impaired

Question 18

Application to Society, Dyslexia (STRENGTHS)

Answer 18

Develop interventions to aid children with dyslexia t identify areas of deficit (in phonological loop digit span) and improve reading skills
-PLAUSIBILITY (orv ref) of WMM increases due to relevance and use in everyday life

Question 19

Incompletion/Inaccuracy (WEAKNESSES)

Answer 19

The 1974 model is incomplete due to the addition of the Episodic Buffer in 2000; the original version of the theory was unable to account for the complexity of memory, and due to addition it can be implied that it is still an inaccurate model of memory

Question 20

PET Scan Evidence: Smith & Jonides (WEAKNESSES)

Answer 20

PET Scans showed different areas of the brain as being active during relevant visual & spatial tasks; implication that the two are separate stores rather than 2 parts of the VSSP
-Incomplete explanation as memory as it does not account for the fact that there may be multiple stores for visual/spatial tasks

Question 21

Reductionist (WEAKNESSES)

Answer 21

Focuses solely on Short term memory without considering interaction with long term memory which could otherwise influence STM so cannot be applied to a holistic understanding of memory

Question 22

Lieberman: Blind people (WEAKNESSES)

Answer 22

VSSP implies that all spatial information is visual to being with (due to being highly interactional parts of the slave system).
-Blind people, though, have good spatial awareness despite little to no visual input
-Should be separated into 2 individual components as a result

Question 23

Evidence from case Studies: KF (WEAKNESSES)

Answer 23

Severely limiting; cannot generalise from the memory of a single, exceptional person (not able to replicate ethically); cannot suggest that all individuals’ memories work the same way without a baseline to compare to

Question 24

Lack of ability to FALSIFY/find evidence to prove or disprove the existence of the Central Executive (WEAKNESSES)

Answer 24

Most important component of WMM, but we cannot narrow down a single way to study it (decreasing validity, because it’d likely study the effect of 1 of the slave systems)
-Circle argument: If it IS working then it is shown by a slave system being relegated work, but if it ISN’T true, then the slave system (still) does the work
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