A03 The working memory model

• Clinical evidence

  Shallice and Warrington study on KF patient who suffered brain damage. After brain damage, KF had poor STM stability for verbal information but could process visual information normally presented visually
• Suggestion given by KF patient

  Suggests phonological loop has been damaged leaving other areas of memory intact. This supports existence of separate visual/acoustic stores
• Evidence from patients with brain damage

  Evidence from patients with brain damage may not be reliable because it concerns unique cases with patients who had traumatic experiences
• Dual task performance

  Baddeley et al showed ppts had more difficulty doing 2 visual tasks (tracking a light and describing the letter F) than doing a visual and verbal task at some time
• Difference in findings

  Increased difficulty because both visual tasks compete for the same slave system whereas, verbal and visual tasks house no competition. Means there must be separate SSs that produces visual input
• Lack of clarity over the central executive

  Cognitive psychologists suggest that this component of WMM is unsatisfactory and doesn't really explain anything
• Baddeley's view of central executive


  Baddeley himself said the CE is the least understood component of memory. The CE needs to be more specific and clear rather than simply bring known as 'attention
• WMM not fully explained

  Some psychologists think that the CE has separate components
• Studies of the word length effect support the phonological loop

  Baddeley et al demonstrated how people find it more difficult to remember a list of long words rather than short words. This is called the word length effect
• Space for rehearsal

  There is a finite space for rehearsal in articulatory process about 2 seconds
• Articulatory suppression task

  The word length effect disappears if person given articulatory suppression task: repetitive task that ties up the articulatory process: doing a task while singing
• Brain scanning supports the WMM


  Braver et al gave ppts tasks that involved CE while they had brain scans
• Findings of Braver at al's study

  Researchers found greater activity in left prefrontal cortex. When task difficulty increased, the activity in the this area increased. Demand on CE increased so it works harder to fulfil its function