The Working Memory Model

• what are the components of the WMM?

  • central executive loop, phonological loop, episodic buffer, visuo-spatial sketchpad.
• what are the main features of the WMM?

  coding & capacity.
• baddeley & hitch (1971):

  when evaluating the MSM, can be said it's simplistic and can't explain why we can't complete dual tasks.

  • asked p's to perform reasoning task (a true/false) whilst simultaneously reciting out loud a list of 6 digits. in 2nd cond, they were performing a task which didn't require effort.
  • if digit span is really a measure of STM capacity, p's would be expected to show impaired performance on the reasoning task because their STM would be fully occupied, no matter what task they would have completed.
• good starting points for an essay:

  • baddeley & hitch believed that the STM store in the MSM was too simplistic.
  • thought that short-term memory was more than a passive store.
  • several dynamic processes occur that manipulate info before it gets to the LTM.
• why is the WMM a bit like a workbench?

  because it operates like a workbench, with all the tools you're currently using.
• what is a weakness of the WMM?

  • focused only on STM.
  • considered LTM, but as a more passive store that holds previously learnt material for use by the STM when needed.
• what does the WMM focus on?

  • the active processing of info.
  • believed that within the STM there isn't only one store, but a no. of diff stores within it.
• draw the WMM


  diagram-

  
• central executive:

  • most versatile & important component of the model.
  • responsible for monitoring/coordinating the operation of the slave systems and relates them to LTM.
  • the central executive decides:

  1. attention- which info is attended to/directed to, gives priority to particular activities.
  2. allocation- which parts of the working memory to send that info to be dealt w/.

  • makes decisions about which issues deserve attention and should be ignored.
  • select strategies for dealing w/ problems, only can do a limited no. of things at the same time.
  • collects info from a no. of diff stores.
  • intergrates info from 2 assistants.
  • draws on info held in a large database (LTM).
• visuo-spatial sketchpad:

  visual and/or spatial info stored here.

  • visual- what things look like, features such as shape and colour known as the visual cache (VC).
  • spatial- relationship between things, deals w/ locations and movements in space known as the inner scribe (IS).
  • rehearsal system where we can imagine & manipulate visual and spatial info.
  • also got a limited capacity- difficult to perform several visuospatial tasks at the same time.
• phonological loop:

  responsible for processing auditory info.

  • deals w/ and preserves word order.
  • has a limited capacity.

  baddeley (1986)- further subdivided the phonological loop into:

  1. articulatory loop.
  2. the primary acoustic store.
• articulatory loop (inner voice):

  verbal rehearsal component.

  • used to prepare speech.
  • used to think in words, e.g. mental arithmetic.
  • similar to maintenance rehearsal in MSM.
  • capacity is determined by how long it takes to say something.
• primary acoustic store (inner ear):

  • receives sound info from the enivronment.
  • speech, songs, the sound of birds, etc.
  • receives the sound of the voice inside of our head- this is where we hear our own inner voice.
• dual tasks:

  • articulatory supression- when you are using 2 tasks in your phonological loop, it's too complex and isn't possible.
  • this is because the phonological loop has limited capacity.
• episodic buffer:

  in 2000, baddeley added the episodic buffer to the WMM due to problems emerging. there was difficulty explaining the interaction between working memory and LTM. original model had NO mechanism for allowing the sub-systems to interact.

  • it is an extra storage system w/ limited capacity.
  • intergrates info from all other area- puts info into context.
  • holding store for diff types of info.
  • maintains a sense of time sequencing- basically recording events (episodes) that are happening.
• what did baddeley (1997) suggest?

  that mentally counting the no. of windows in your house demonstrates the operations of working memory. normally a person will imagine each room in turn. forming a mental image of each window (visuo-sketchpad), they will count using the phonological loop to rehearse numbers and this will all be coordinated in the central executive.