WMM

• Who Devised the Working Memory Model?

  Baddley and Hitch
• What is the Working Memory Model?

  An explanation of STM as an active store that holds several different types of info in different sub-units
• Structure of Working Memory Model
• What is the Central Executive?

  Attentional process that monitors incoming data. Allocates data to certain slave systems. Has limited processing capacity.
• Evaluation of CE

  Little is known about it - Most important but least understood (Baddley)Better understood as attention rather than a memory store.
• What is the Phonological Loop?

  Deals w/ auditory info, both written and spoken. Preserves the order info arrives. 2 Parts:Phonological StoreArticulatory Process
• What is the Phonological Store? (Primary Acoustic Store)

  Stores words heard
• What is the Articulatory Process?

  Allows for maintenance rehearsal/sub-vocal repetition.Capacity of this is about 2 seconds.Linked to speech production.
• Evaluation(s) of Phonological Loop

  Baddley demonstrated that people find it more difficult to remember a list of long words than short words. Only 2 seconds in store. So can't repeat if being vocal - Two stores in it.PET scan shows different activities when doing verbal tasks.
• What is the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad?

  Stores visual or spatial information. Helps navigate around & interact with their environment. Through mental pictures.Two Parts:Visual CacheInner Scribe
• What is the Visual Cache?

  Stores Visual Data - Form and Colour.
• What is the inner scribe?

  Information about the Physical Relationship between items. Arrangement of objects in visual field.
• Evaluation of Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

  Dual task Performance- supports the existance of the VSS. -->The pp had diffculty doing two visual tasks other than visual and verbal- different slave systems.PET scans show them as seperate stores.
• What is the Episodic Buffer?

  Added by Baddely later on (2000)A temporary store- intergrating information from other sub systems rather than seperate strandsIt's a bridge between working memory and LTM.
• Strength- dual task performance evidence (AO3)

  • Baddeley found evidence to support the separate existence of the visuo-spatial sketchpad
  • Ppts had more difficulty performing 2 visual tasks (tracking a light and describing the letter F)
  • Then doing a visual and verbal task unanimously
  • Increased difficulty may suggest the visual tasks compete for the same slave system whilst visual and verbal require different system processors/no competition
  • Therefore supports WMM idea that there are separate slave systems for certain tasks, including VSS for visual
• Strength- Brain scanning support (AO3)

  • BRAVER ET AL
  • Found empirical evidence to support the existence and role of the central executive
  • Found greater activity in left prefrontal cortex (localised role of CE)
  • Activity increased as task difficulty increased
  • May provide empirical support as CE acts as an attentional process and task facilitator within memory
  • Supports models prediction that CE will function more with more demands