the working memory model

who proposed the working memory model?

baddeley and hitch in 1974

what concept did the working memory model replace?

the idea of a unitary short-term memory

how does the working memory model differ from the multi-store model's stm?

it is more complex and active, focusing on temporary storage and manipulation of information

what is the primary focus of the working memory model?

temporary storage and manipulation of information

what is the primary function of the multi-component stm system?

it explains how we process auditory and visual information separately

what are the components of the multi-component stm system?

central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer

what is the role of the central executive in the working memory model?

it controls attention and directs information to the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad, relating them to long-term memory

what cognitive tasks does the central executive handle?

it deals with tasks such as mental arithmetic and problem-solving

what are the key characteristics of the central executive?

it is the control center of the system, directs attention, allocates tasks, has limited capacity

does the central executive store information?

no

what types of information can the central executive process?

it can process information from any sensory modality

what is the phonological loop?

a temporary storage system for verbal information with two components: the articulatory control process and the phonological store

what are the two components of the phonological loop?

the articulatory control process ('inner voice') and the phonological store ('inner ear')

what does the articulatory control process do?

it allows for subvocal repetition of acoustic information

what is the function of the phonological store?

it serves as a temporary storage space for coding acoustic information

what type of information does the phonological loop deal with?

auditory information

what is the limited capacity of the phonological loop?

approximately 2 seconds

visuospatial sketchpad

thought of as the 'inner eye'

visuospatial sketchpad function

processes visual and spatial information

visual cache

stores visual data (colours, faces, etc)

inner scribe

processes spatial/arrangement info (3d awareness and graphical layouts)

capacity of visuospatial sketchpad

limited capacity (3-4 items)

episodic buffer

added in 2000 by baddeley and hitch

what does the episodic buffer do?

integrates information from all components and long-term memory

what do dual-task studies investigate?

they test the ability to perform two tasks simultaneously to explore how working memory handles different types of information

what happens to performance when both tasks in a dual-task study use the same subsystem?

performance drops when both tasks use the same subsystem, such as two visual tasks

what did baddeley and hitch (1976) find regarding dual-task performance?

they found that people could complete reasoning tests and repeat digits simultaneously with little difficulty

what was the finding of baddeley et al. (1975) regarding visual tasks?

it is harder to perform two visual tasks than to perform a visual task and a verbal task together

what was the aim of baddeley and hitch's (1976) study?

to investigate whether participants could use different components of the working memory model simultaneously

what were the results of the dual task performance effect study?

performance on two simultaneous tasks is good if they use different working memory systems, but poor if they use the same system

what conclusion can be drawn from baddeley and hitch's study regarding short-term memory?

the stm is not a single, unified store but a complex system composed of multiple, specialised components

what is one strength of baddeley and hitch's study?

it provides evidence for separate slave systems within the working memory model

how does baddeley and hitch's study support the concept of limited attention?

it shows that performance declines when tasks compete for the same working memory system, indicating limited attentional resources

what is a limitation of baddeley and hitch's study?

it lacks ecological validity and mundane realism, as the tasks may not reflect real-world scenarios

what is still not fully understood in the working memory model according to baddeley and hitch's findings?

the role and functioning of the central executive

what was the main objective of baddeley's 1975 experiment?

to investigate the capacity of the visual spatial sketchpad and phonological loop by comparing performance on visual tasks

what were the two types of tasks participants were asked to perform in baddeley's experiment?

participants performed either two visual tasks or a visual task alongside a verbal task

what was the result of baddeley's experiment regarding task performance?

performance was significantly better when tasks did not require the same processing system

what conclusion did baddeley draw from the results of his 1975 experiment?

the visual spatial sketchpad and phonological loop are separate systems, and the vss can be overwhelmed by excessive visual information

what was the aim of robbins et al. (1996)'s study on dual task performance?

to investigate the role of the central executive by testing how disrupting different parts of the working memory model with a secondary task affects a primary task

what specific hypothesis did robbins et al. (1996) test in their study?

to see if a secondary task that interferes with the central executive would disrupt the primary task more significantly than a task that blocks the phonological loop

what procedure did robbins et al. (1996) use in their study?

researchers used a dual-task paradigm where participants performed a primary task (remembering chess positions) while simultaneously performing a secondary task designed to block either the phonological loop or the central executive

what were the results of robbins et al. (1996)'s study regarding memory recall?

there was a far greater reduction in scores of accurate recalls of chess positions when the participants' visuo-spatial sketchpad processing was interfered with, averaging around 4/25, compared to around 16/25 for the PL interference

what conclusion did robbins et al. (1996) draw from their study?

the study provides evidence for the existence of separate slave systems that process different information during working memory tasks

what was one strength of robbins et al. (1996)'s study?

the study removed extraneous variables by using a repeated measures design, targeted secondary tasks, and collected both quantitative and qualitative data

what were some limitations of robbins et al. (1996)'s study?

limitations included gender bias (cannot be generalised to women), occupational bias (all participants were chess players), age bias (all participants were under 30), low ecological validity, and low mundane realism

what was the aim of gathercole and baddeley (1993) in their study?

to investigate the link between phonological working memory and vocabulary acquisition and reading development

what conclusion did gathercole and baddeley (1993) reach regarding phonological memory?

the phonological loop is a critical mechanism for learning new words, especially novel phonological forms

what are some strengths of gathercole and baddeley (1993)'s study?

empirical support for the phonological loop, support for the model's component independence, demonstrated interference effects, and practical applications

what limitations were noted in gathercole and baddeley (1993)'s study?

lacks mundane realism, low ecological validity, and reliance on dual-task methodology

what was the aim of shallice and warrington's (1970) case study of patient kf?

to investigate the relationship between short-term memory and long-term memory when stm was impaired

what type of memory impairment did patient kf experience?

severe impairment in short-term memory, particularly for verbal information, while long-term memory remained intact

what conclusion was drawn about short-term memory from patient kf's case?

stm is not a single store but consists of separate components for verbal and visual information

what is one strength of the case study of patient kf?

it provides clinical evidence for the working memory model and challenges the multi-store model

what is a limitation of the case study regarding generalisability?

the findings may lack generalisability due to the unique nature of patient kf's brain injury

what ethical concerns were raised in the study of patient kf?

concerns regarding kf's consent and awareness of the study

what is one method used in the study of patient kf that increased the validity of the findings?

a variety of methods were used to study kf, which increased the validity of the findings

what aspect of the study's design limits its ecological validity?

the study's low ecological validity and low mundane realism limit the applicability of the findings to real-world situations