the working memory model Baddeley & Hitch

the working memory model Baddeley & Hitch

1. Phonological loop

   • the "inner voice"
     • a method of processing and remembering information verbally
   • Baddeley, Thompson & Buchananl
     • stated that the capacity of the phonological loop is as long as it takes you to read aloud the words in two seconds
     • tested using the word length effect - you'll remember more short words and less long words
     • suggests phonological basis behind memory
   • used for learning new words
     • Baddeley & Gathercole
       • poor phonological loop means impaired reading in children

2. Visuo-spatial sketchpad

   • the "inner eye"
     • used for remembering visual patterns and spatial movement
     • used for things such as walking and video games
     • the visual and spatial aspects are different e.g. blindness
   • Klauer & Zhao
     • asked participants to do either a spatial main task (e.g. track a dot) or a visual main task (remembering chinese symbols)
     • then asked them to do another task either spatial or visual
     • found that doing two of the same tasks increased errors but different tasks not so much
       • concluded that spatial and visual elements are separate

3. Central executive

   • the attentional system
   • Miyake et al
     • stated it is used for inhibition, shifting function and updating function:
       • inhibition - the stroop task
         • inhibition is the idea that the CE stops you doing one task and makes you focus on another e.g. reading the colour of the word not the word itself
       • shifting function
         • the idea that something has to tell you to change what you're doing e.g. adding to subtracting
       • updating function
         • the idea that the CE updates your working memory to let you know what the last category was
   • brain damage
     • damamge to CE areas can result in dysexeutive syndrome (poor planning, organisation and behaviour
     • damage to different areas of the frontal lobe may cause planning, monitoring or concentration issues (Stuss & Alexander)

4. evalutaion

   • strengths
     • important in processing and memory storage at the same time
     • may be linked to IQ (Conway et al)
     • WWM expands on the MSM. it looks at processing and storage
     • less emphasis on rehearsal
     • research and practical support (brain damage)
     • can help with treatments (brain damage)
   • weaknesses
     • capacity and details of functioning or CE are unclear
     • CE - one system or many?
     • how do the components interact?
     • what about the LTM?

5. Robbins et al - selecting a good chess move requires the CE and the VSS but not the PL