The Working Memory Model

• What is the WMM?


  The term 'working memory' refers to your temporary mental workplace where you hold information in your short term. This is contradictory to the MSM, which states that the STM is a unitary store, suggesting that there are different stores within the STM for visual and auditory processing. The WWM states that as long as participants use different STM stores, there should be no problem with multi-tasking, however when participants try to do two things at once that require the same STM store, they are unable to successfully multi-task. After the task is completed, the information disappears and makes space for a new round of information processing.
• What did Baddeley and Hitch (1974) do?


  Baddeley and Hitch found in laboratory conditions that participants are able to perform tasks that involve listening and vision simultaneously successfully. This procedure, when participants carry out two tasks at once, is known as the dual task technique. The WMM was devised in 1974, developing due to criticism and new findings.
• What is the central executive?


  The 'boss' of the WMM, the most important part of the WMM, deciding how and when the slave systems are used. It has the capacity to focus, divide between two or more sources, and switch attention. However, its capacity is limited, meaning that a participant cannot attend to many things at the same time. it can process any sensory information, either auditory or visual (modality-free).

  It is essentially an attention control system, monitoring and co-ordinating the operations of the other components (slave systems).
• What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

  May be known as 'the inner eye', and is the visual component of the STM.

  The Visual Cache stores information about the appearance of things, the ‘what’ of information.

  The Inner scribe stores information about spatial relationships and movements. It is responsible for spatial processing and the rehearsal of visual and spatial information, and allows navigation. it focuses on the ‘where’ and ‘how’ of information.

  It allows participants to remember not only what visual information is important, but where it is.
• What is the phonological loop?


  It is the auditory component of the STM, and is divided into two components
• What is the articulatory control system?


  A part of the phonological loop. Is sometimes known as the 'inner voice', holding information in a verbal form. It processes speech production, rehearsing and storing verbal information from the phonological store. It does this through circulating information round and around like a tape loop. If memory traces are not rehearsed by the articulatory control system, they can only last from 1.5 to 2 seconds.

  It is also responsible for the conversion of written material into articulatory code, transferring it to the phonological store.
• What is the phonological store?


  A part of the phonological loop. Is sometimes known as the 'inner ear', holding auditory memory traces, receiving information directly from SM in the form of auditory material. It processes speech perception and stores spoken words for 1-2 seconds. Spoken words enter the store directly, and written words must be converted into articulatory (spoken) code before they can enter the phonological store.
• What is the episodic buffer?


  It acts as a 'backup' that communicates with the components of the WMM and the LTM. It binds and integrates information into discrete pieces, linking how things look with other sensory information and prior information.
• What are some strengths of the WMM?


  Replaced the idea of the STM being unitary as it is in the MSM.

  Explains more than the MSM, making sense of verbal reasoning, comprehension, reading, problem-solving and visual and spatial processing.

  Supported by experimental evidence

  Applies to real-life tasks such as reading (phonological loop), problem solving (central executive), and navigation (visual and spatial processing)
• What are some weaknesses of the WMM?


  Lieberman (1980) found that the VSS implies that all spatial information was first visual, but blind people still have excellent spatial awareness.

  There is little evidence for how the central executive works, and its capacity has never been measured

  The WMM only involves STM

  Does not explain changes in processing ability that occur as the result of practice or time
• What was Quinn and McConnel (1996)'s aim?


  To find evidence for the WMM
• What was Quinn and McConnel (1996)'s procedure?


  The researchers asked participants to learn a list of words, by imagery or rehearsal. This learning was either performed on its own or with concurrent visual noise (changing patterns of dots) or a concurrent verbal noise (speech in a foreign language). Their chosen procedure is also known as the Dual task technique.
• What were Quinn and McConnel (1996)'s findings?


  The participants that learned the list through imagery were unaffected by verbal noise, but were by the visual noise, and vice versa.
• What was Quinn and McConnel (1996)'s conclusion?

  The findings support the WMM as it shows that there are separate stores for STM. It indicates that imagery processing uses that visuo-spatial sketchpad, and verbal processing uses the phonological loop. If two tasks used the same component of STM, performance deteriorated, supporting the WMM.
• What are some strengths of Quinn and McConnel (1996)'s study?


  Supports the idea of STM having different components that are used for different processes, therefore supporting WMM

  Was carried out in a highly controlled environment, increasing internal validity
• What are some weaknesses of Quinn and McConnel (1996)'s study?


  Old study so low in temporal validity

  Low ecological validity as learning a list is not an everyday task
• What was Warrington and Shallice (1970)'s aim?


  They aimed to illustrate a case where LTM remained intact, when STM was damaged
• What was Warrington and Shallice (1970)'s procedure?


  Case study of KF, who suffered from a motorcycle accident, causing damage to his left parietal occipital region of the brain. They tested him to see how many words from a ten- word sequence he could remember.
• What were Warrington and Shallice (1970)'s findings?


  KF could not remember numbers (less than two), but performed well on tasks involving LTM, such as storing new information. He was able to learn a ten-word sequence in fewer trials than would have usually been expected, still retaining seven of then several months later. He could also recall verbal but not visual information immediately after presentation
• What was Warrington and Shallice (1970)'s conclusion?


  They concluded that the transfer of memory from STM to LTM is not linear, and does not require an intact STM. This is contradictory to the MSM, which states that an intact STM is required to transfer information to the LTM. It supports the WMM as concludes that separate STM stores manage short term phonological (sounds) and visual memories, as his visual spatial sketchpad was still working.
• What are some strengths of Warrington and Shallice (1970)'s study?


  Case study allowed in-depth investigation

  Supports the WMM
• What are some weaknesses of Warrington and Shallice (1970)'s study?


  Findings contradict the MSM

  As it is a case study, cannot easily be generalised
• What is articulatory surpression?


  Articulatory surpression is the process of inhibiting memory performance by speaking while being presented with an item to remember.
• What was Landry and Bartling (2011)'s aim?


  Their aim was to investigate if articulatory surpression would influence the recall of a written list of phonologically dissimilar letters (not sounding the same) in serial recall. they hypothesised that the accuracy of serial recall would be higher in the control group compared to the experimental group.
• What was Landry and Bartling (2011)'s procedure?


  A convenience sample of 34 psychology students was used, and each participant was tested individually.

  Before the experiment started, each participant viewed one practice list to get used to the procedure, and received an answer sheet with seven blanks in each row. There were ten lists, each consisting of a series of seven letters randomly constructed from letters that do not sound similar. One letter series was presented at a time.

  The experiment was of the independent sample design, splitting the participants randomly into two groups:

  A control group that performed no concurrent task while memorising a list. Participants were shown the list for five seconds, instructed to wait for five seconds, and then to write the correct order of the letters on the answer sheet as accurately as possible.

  An experimental group that performed the concurrent task of articulatory surpression while memorising a list. Participants received instructions to repeatedly say '1 and 2' at a rate of two numbers per second from the time of the presentation of the list until they filled in the answer sheet.

  Each trial was repeated ten times, and scored for accuracy of recall (correct if the letters were in the same position). Average percentages were then calculated for both groups.
• What were Landry and Bartling (2011)'s findings?


  The scores of the experimental group were far lower than the control group (76% compared to 45%). These findings supported Landry and Bartling (2011)'s hypothesis.
• What was Landry and Bartling (2011)'s conclusion?


  Their findings support the WMM, as it is found that disruption of the phonological loop through the use of articulatory suppression results in less accurate memory. This is because articulatory suppression is preventing rehearsal in the phonological loop because of overload.
• What are some strengths of Landry and Bartling (2011)'s study?


  Reliable as repeats were carried out

  Provides evidence for WMM
• What are some weaknesses of Landry and Bartling (2011)'s study?


  Low ecological validity as memorising letter sequences is not an everyday activity

  Student sample used so low generalisability
• Automatic level attention control


  The automatic level is based on habits that rely on schemas in long-term memory and are controlled more or less automatically by stimuli from the environment. This includes routine actions such as cycling to school and places only limited demand on attention.
• The supervisory attention control


  The supervisory attention level deals with planning and decision-making. It creates new strategies when the old ones are no longer sufficient. It is also active in emergency situations - for example, when a car is suddenly coming at you when you are cycling. The system is also involved in situations that require self-regulation such as trying to avoid eating that lovely chocolate dessert when you are trying to eat a more healthy diet. The supervisory attention system is capable of considering alternative plans of action and choosing the most favourable.