working memory model

Question 1

Clinical evidence

Answer 1

P-Support for the WMM comes from Shallice and Warrington’s case study of patient KF who had suffered brain damage
E-After this damage, KF had poor STM ability for verbal information but could process visual information normally presented visually
E-This suggests that just his phonological loop had been damaged, leaving other areas of memory intact
L-This supports the existence of separate visual and acoustic stores, however evidence from brain-damaged patients may not be reliable because it concerns unique cases with patients who had traumatic experiences.

Question 2

Dual task performance

Answer 2

P-Studies of dual task performance support the separate existence of the visuospatial sketchpad
E-For example, Baddeley et al showed that participants had more difficulty doing two visual tasks than doing both visual and verbal.
E-This increased difficulty is because both visual tasks compete for slave systems, whereas doing a verbal and visual task simultaneously has no competition
L-This means there must be a separate slave system that processes visual input

Question 3

Lack of clarity over the central executive

Answer 3

P-Cognitive psychologists suggest that this component of the WMM is unsatisfactory and doesn’t really explain anything
E-Baddeley himself recognised this when he said ‘the central executive is the most important but the least understood component’
E-The central executive needs to be more clearly specified than just simply being ‘attention’, for example some psychologists believe it may consist of separate components
L-This means the WMM hasn’t been fully explained