Working Memory Model (WMM)

Question 1

why did Baddeley and hitch create the WMM

Answer 1

• They believed that the MSM was too simplistic
• if you do two visual tasks at the same time then you perform them less well than if you did them separately
• WHEREAS if you did one visual task and one sound based task you can perform them both as well simultaneously as you would separately

Question 2

what is the WMM

Answer 2

• the WMM focuses only on the STM
• it suggests the STM is NOT a unitary store
• 4 parts: central executive, Visio-spatial sketchpad, phonological loop and the episodic buffer

Question 3

what is the central executive

Answer 3

• it is the supervisor
  CODING= 5 senses
  CAPACITY= limited (decides what to pay attention to)
• allocates information into the other sub systems
• located in the pre-frontal cortex

Question 4

what is the phonological loop

Answer 4

• deals with auditory information or visually presented language
  CODING= language and auditory info
  CAPACITY= limited
  subdivided into:
  
  • the phonological store (holds words you hear)
  • the articulatory control system (words are silently repeated for maintenance rehearsal)

Question 5

what is the visio-spatial sketchpad (inner eye)

Answer 5

• deals with all visual and spatial info
  CODING= visual and spatial info
  subdivided into:
  
  • a visual cache (stores info about visual items e.g. form and colour)
  • an inner scribe (stores the arrangement of objects in the visual field)

Question 6

what is the episodic buffer

Answer 6

• Baddeley added this in 2000
• it is a general store to hold information for the central executive
• temporary store that integrates visual, spatial and verbal info
• it maintains a sense of time sequencing
• acts as a bridge for the STM and LTM

Question 7

outline the research that supports the phonological loop

baddeley 1975

Answer 7

• participants saw everyday words displayed very quickly one after the other. then asked to write the words seen in serial order
  condition 1 - list of one syllable words
  condition 2 - list of 5 polysyllabic words
• he found that participants recalled the one-syllable words better
• he concluded that the capacity is not associated with the number of items but the length of time it takes to say the words. the phonological loop holds the amount of info you can say in 2 seconds.

Question 8

outline the research that supports the existence of the visuospatial sketchpad (baddeley 1975)

Answer 8

• participants were asked to complete a visual tracking task at the same time as describing angles of a letter
  task 1 - yes or no question about the angles on a letter
  task 2- track the movement of a dot with a light tracker
• he found that participants couldn’t focus on both tasks as both of them require the visuospatial sketchpad
• when asked to perform a verbal task when performing task 2 participants performed much better
• he concluded that ONE store cant be used for two tasks simultaneously BUT TWO stores can be used to complete two different tasks simultaneously

Question 9

evaluation of WMM (AO3)

Answer 9

• POSITIVE - evidence for dual-task performance shows that STM cannot be one unitary store and supports the idea of the central executive, the visuospatial sketchpad and the phonological loop
• NEGATIVE - case studies of one person can’t be generalised to the whole population, brain damage may have caused trauma which changes the way someone behaves
• POSITIVE - patient KF showing evidence for PL and VSS being separate
• NEGATIVE - problems with the research methodology, demand characteristics, participants trying harder because they are aware their memory performance is being tested and artificial tasks used lack mundane realism
• NEGATIVE - CE although the most important component it is the least well understood

Question 10

how does KF’s case study support

Answer 10

• he had trouble processing auditory information but could process typically visually presented info (like letters and numbers)
• this supports the idea that there are separate stories for visuals and acoustics

Question 11

what is meant by dual-task performance

Answer 11

• one subsystem can’t be used for 2 tasks because each slave system has a limited capacity
• you can do two task simultaneously if you use two different slave systems