The Working Memory Model

The Working Memory Model

Baddeley & Hitch, 1974

= believed memory is not just a single store but is composed of a number of different stores

e.g., 2 visual tasks are often performed poorer, however, 1 visual task and 1 verbal task are performed without interruption, suggesting there are multiple stores

WMM A01 Key Features

-- Focuses on the STM only

-- The memory is not a unitary store

-- LTM is a passive store which stores information for the STM to retrieve

-- The STM contains "Slave Systems" to deal with the information

-- Is a dynamic/active process to describing the STM

-- More active than the MSM

-- STM is not just one unitary store

Slave Systems

1. Visuospatial sketchpad

2. Phonological loop

3. Episodic buffer

The Central Executive

= has a limited capacity as cannot hold information from senses for long periods of time, doesn't have any storage capacity

- Determines how slave systems are used by allocating the information from the senses and coding it to different systems

- Modality free, will hold any information from all the senses

- Decides which information deserves more attention to be processed

· Involved in reasoning and decision-making tasks

- Can only do a limited number of things at the same time

- Collects information from the senses

Baddeley used the metaphor of a company boss being the decision maker

e.g., puzzles, quizzes, questions

The Visuospatial Sketchpad

= visual & spatial information is store here

Referred to as the "inner eye"

Visual = what things look like

Spatial = the relationship between things

- Limited capacity of 3-4 objects

- Modality = visual only

Logie (1995) suggested that it was it was split into subdivisions

1. The Visual Cache

2. The Inner Scribe

The Visual Cache

= stores the colours, formation, shape, size, and transparency of objects/things

e.g., recognising that 1 football team is wearing a certain colour of kit (red) and that the other is wearing a different colour (blue) so that they know who to pass the ball to

Inner Scribe

= for spatial relations, the physical relationships with items

- Spatial based tasks and movement

e.g., a goalkeeper uses the inner scribe to think about where they are standing in relation to the size of the goal and the direction of the ball coming at them

The Phonological Loop

= Deals with auditory information and preserves word order

Referred to as the "inner ear"

- Limited capacity

- Modality = auditory/acoustic

Baddeley (1986) later split it into...

1. The phonological store

2. The articulatory control system

The Phonological Store

= holds words, letters, numbers, or noises heard

The Articulatory Control System

= where words are silently repeated (looped) like an inner voice

- A kind of maintenance rehearsal

e.g., revising, or repeating song lyrics in your head

The Episodic Buffer

= A general store of information, holds information temporarily

Added by Baddeley in 2000

- Integrates information from other slave systems

- Modality free

- Has a limited capacity of 4 chunks/items

- The central executive has no storage capacity, so the buffer is an extra storage system

- Fed by slave systems either side of it

- Visual and verbal information is collaborated, linked, and sequenced (put into time order)

- Links to the central executive and the LTM

Dual Tasks

= where performance is measured as participants perform two tasks simultaneously

WEAKNESS of WMM - Too Vague

P

= The WMM can be criticised as being too simplistic and vague

EX

= It is unclear what the central executive is and or what it's exact role in attention is

EV

= In 2003, Baddeley stated that the central executive is the most important component of our short-term memory as it codes and interprets different information to different areas of our brain, and yet it is also the least understood part of the working memory as it does not specify how this system codes information and controls the slave systems. The buffer is also an unexplained part of system

EXT

= As well as this, it can be argued that the WMM relies on artificial laboratory experiments and therefore has low ecological value

LB

= Consequently, the WWM hasn't been fully explained and does not represent how the working memory functions with everyday tasks.

STRENGTHS of WMM - Brain Scans + Research

P

= Brain scans provides evidence in support of the WMM

EX

= During tasks, brain scans demonstrated how particular areas of the brain functioned differently to other areas and how two different slave systems can work at the same time

EV

= For example, in Braver et al.'s study (1997) brain scans found that when participants were given reasoning tasks, there was greater activity in the pre-frontal cortex than other areas of the brain, and that as the tasks got harder, the activity in these areas increased.

This supports the WMM as suggests that as the demands of the central executive increase, particular areas of the brain have to work harder in order to fulfil the function

EXT

= Furthermore, the WMM acknowledges how cognitive processes such as the inner scribe and the visual cache work together during dual task performances and how memory is active, unlike the MSM which proposes memory is passive

LB

= This is a strength of the WMM as it shows how it explains the working memory more fully than the MSM whilst also providing evidence that information is coded for and sent to different areas of the brain.

STRENGTHS of WMM - Explains Parallel Processing

P

= Another strength of the WMM is that it provides an explanation for parallel processing

EX

= This is where processes involved in cognitive tasks can occur at the same time as the two processes are performed simultaneously

EV

= For example, people find that they can talk whilst driving a car as this uses two different slave systems, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the phonological loop, at the same time

C

= However, whilst doing two tasks that both use the same store, performance level normally decreases than when they are completed separately due to the same slave systems being used.

Furthermore, the case study of KF's motorcycle accident supports the WMM as Shallice and Warrington, 1974, reported that KF could recall visual information but no verbal information immediately after its presentation as a result of the brain damage. Therefore, his phonological loop was damaged, but his visuo-spatial sketchpad was still intact. However, this can be argued as being idiographic

LB

= Despite this, the case study proves that the short-term memory is separated into different stores for auditorial and visual information, as well as that these two stores can function at the same time with its performance unaffected by the increased information.