Working Memory Model

Working Memory Model

1. Baddeley and Hitch

2. Central Executive= direct info into the slave systems

   • Bunge Et al used MRI scans to determine which parts of the brain were active during memory processes

3. Visuo-spatial sketchpad= visual information e,g maps or picturing your house

   • Baddeley et al= participants given a visual tracking task and either: describe all angles on the letter F OR perform a verbal task. the evidence showed that recall was poorer when doing the two visual tasks

4. Episodic Buffer= Temporary store for information

   • Baddeley et al = when participants were shown words then asked for immediate recall, their performance was much better for sentences/related words, supporting the idea for an immediate memory store for info.

5. Phonological Loop= sounds etc

   • Phonological store= inner ear
   • Articulary process= Inner voice
   • Word-length effect= p.l holds amount of information that you can say in 2 seconds-Baddeley et al. this makes it harder to recall longer words, the longer words cant be rehearsed so the do not fit into the STM. the Word length effect disappears when given a task in the articulary process.

6. B&H discovered that you cannot carry out two tasks that occupy the same store. gave statements asking about A and B and asked if the statement was true or false, participants had to say "the the the..." repeateldy also.

7. Only a model of STM so has a limited capacity and duration

8. KF= stm works independently of LTM, short term forgetting of auditory information more than verbal info, suggesting that damage was only done to his phonological loop

9. Strengths: Explains many psychological observations; There is quite a lot of Supporting evidence; Represents that there are different types of memory; Also allows omparison of the WMM and MSM

10. Limitations: There is little evidence for the central executive; Some key evidence comes from brain damaged patients so the results may not be comparable or reliable.