The working memory model

The working memory model

1. BADDELEY AND HITCH'S working memory model (WM) replaced the idea of unitary STM. It believes the STM in fact is more active and complex than the multi-store model suggests. Eg. STM can complete two different tasks at the same time

2. Components of the working memory model

   • The central executive (CE)
     • The main part of the working memory that controls the other slave components and decides which component is required for the task
     • Modality free (not influenced by a specific sense)
     • Decides what the WM pays attention to Eg. if you are driving and talking on the phone whilst there is an amateure cyclist on the road then the CE would pay attention to the cyclist and stop talking to concentrate on driving
     • May have to handle more than one task at a time allocates resources to the "slave" components by deciding which task is most important and should be handled first
   • The phonological loop (PL)
     • Deals with sound based information such as noises and words; its separated into the PS and the AL
       • Phonological store (PS): linked to speech perception, its a short term store that receives auditory (sound based) information and decays rapidly as its only held for 1-2 seconds
         • The phonological store remembers sounds in thee order they are presented and is sometimes referred to the "inner ear"
       • Articulatory loop (AL): linked to speech production
         • Auditory information from the PS is repeated in a loop to help it from decaying
         • Sometimes referred to as the "inner voice" (how we remember a phone number by repeating it over and over again
         • Used to rehearse and store sounds and speech collected by PS by using rehearsal
   • The visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSSP)
     • Used to hold visual memories Eg. faces, images
     • Used for spatial tasks, such as planning movements, actions or visual patterns Eg. predicting where the next shape would go in the game Tetris
     • Often referred to as the "inner eye"

3. Strengths of working memory

   • RESEARCH SUPPORT FROM DUAL TASK STUDIES: We can do two different tasks at the same time. Using laboratory investigations Baddelely and Bitch illustrated that we can easily do two different tasks that take up space in different stores (Eg. visual and verbal). When PP's were asked to complete a verbal talk (AL used) and a separate task in the CE recall is not affected however when the same PP's were asked to complete two similar tasks (Eg. both in the AL) then recall for the first task is affected. Yhis may be why it is difficult to concentrate on two people who are talking to you at the same time because the tasks are similar
   • PET SCANS PROVIDE PHYSIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF DIFFERENT COMPONENTS SPECIALISING DIFFERENT TASKS: Cohen et al found that brain activity was higher in the Broca's are (linked to speech production) when PP's were completing a verbal task, and regions of the occipital lobe (linked to visual processing) are activated when PP's complete a task using the VSSP, supporting the different components of the working model

4. Limitations of working memory

   • THE CENTRAL EXECUTIVE COMPONENT IS OVERSIMPLIFIED: not enough detail about how the CE actually controls the entire working memory system or how it works modality free. Interaction between components in the WM is obvious when performing tasks but it is not clear how this actually happens. Critics also believe there is more than one CE. In the case of EVR, after having a brain tumour removed , EVR performed well on tasks to do with reasoning (suggesting CE was still intact) however he had poor decision making skills, suggesting that there are several components to the CE and in EVR's case only one was damaged
   • THE WM IS NOT A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF MEMORY: unlike the MSM it doesn't give a clear understanding of how the WM links to LTM. Baddeley and Hitch tried to address this issue by adding an episodic buffer (temporary storage space which allows us to combine memories in the LTM with information in the WM) But this doesn't explain how this happens therefore limiting its practical application

Imágenes y archivos del mapa