WMM

• Working memory model


  An improved version of the short-term memory store in the multi-store model
• Working memory model


  • Able to hold and work on both auditory and visual information in short-term memory
• Short-term memory store


  Seen as too simplistic in the multi-store model
• Working memory model


  • An active processor that processes and combines multiple types of information, rather than just a passive store
• Components of the working memory model

  • Central executive
  • Visuospatial sketchpad
  • Phonological loop
  • Episodic buffer
• Central executive


  Pays attention to information from the senses and controls the other components
• Phonological loop


  Processes auditory information like sounds and words, consisting of a phonological store (inner ear) and an articulatory process (inner voice)
• Visuospatial sketchpad


  Responsible for processing visual and spatial information, consisting of a visual cache (passive store for forms and colour) and an inner scribe (active store for 3D relationships)
• Episodic buffer


  Integrates and stores information from visual, acoustic and long-term memory stores
• AQA specification only requires knowledge of coding and capacity for the working memory model, not the detailed features of each store as in the multi-store model
• Coding in working memory model

  Phonological loop is acoustic, visuospatial sketchpad is visual
• Capacity in working memory model

  Phonological loop can hold 2 seconds worth of verbal information, central executive is limited to 4 items +/- 1
• Dual task performance study

  1. Participants perform two tasks, either two visual tasks or a visual and verbal task

  2. Participants perform much better when the tasks are different, suggesting the visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop are separate processes
• Case study of KF showed selective impairment to verbal short-term memory but not visual short-term memory, suggesting the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad are separate processes
• Brain scanning evidence showed more activation in the prefrontal cortex when visual and verbal information was integrated, suggesting the existence of the episodic buffer
• Study found people could remember more short monosyllabic words than longer words, supporting the 2-second capacity of the phonological loop
• Criticisms of the working memory model

  • Central executive is not a fully operationalised concept
  • Reliance on laboratory studies with low external validity
  • Inferences about underlying processes may be incorrect
• The working memory model is seen as more accurate than the short-term memory store in describing short-term memory as an active processor