Working Memory Model Notes

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary and concepts from the Working Memory Model lecture, providing definitions and explanations for key terms and findings.

Working Memory Model

A cognitive model proposed by Alan Baddeley that serves as an alternative to the Atkinson and Shiffrin model, focusing on short-term memory processes and interactions with long-term memory.

Central Executive

The higher-level component of the working memory model that directs attentional resources and manages cognitive processes such as goal-directed retrieval and information manipulation.

Phonological Loop

An activation buffer that maintains speech sounds active through subvocal rehearsal, allowing for the processing of verbal information.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

An activation buffer that holds visual patterns and spatial information in memory, supporting tasks that require visual processing.

Chunking

An integrative process managed by the central executive, where information is bound together to form larger and more meaningful units.

Word Length Effect

A phenomenon where longer words are more difficult to remember than shorter words, demonstrating the capacity limits of the phonological loop.

Subvocal Rehearsal

The silent repetition of sounds in the phonological loop, which helps maintain auditory information in working memory.

Attentional Mechanism

The role of working memory in directing and allocating attentional resources to various cognitive tasks, rather than functioning solely as a memory storage system.

Self-Terminating Serial Scan

A process where each item in working memory is examined one at a time, and scanning stops as soon as a match is found.

Exhaustive Serial Scan

A scanning process where all items in working memory are examined sequentially, regardless of whether a match has already been found.

Working Memory Span

A measure of the capacity of working memory, often assessed through tasks that involve recalling a series of words or numbers.

Cocktail Party Phenomenon

The ability to focus on a single conversation in a noisy environment, demonstrating selective attention and working memory functions.

Proactive Interference

A type of memory interference where previously learned information disrupts the recall of new information.

Digit Span Task

A method used to assess working memory capacity by requiring participants to recall a series of digits presented to them.

Empirical Studies

Research investigations that collect data to test hypotheses and validate theoretical models like Baddeley's working memory model.

Articulatory Suppression Task

A task that interferes with subvocal rehearsal by requiring participants to repeat a word or series of digits while studying a list, thereby affecting memory performance.