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Outline and evaluate the working memory model - Coggle Diagram
Outline and evaluate the working memory model
It was proposed by Baddeley and Hitch in 1974 to challenge the multi store model of memory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin.
The WMM is concerned with the part of the mind that is active when we are temporarily storing and manipulating information e.g.
when working on a math problem or playing chess or understanding a language etc.
It suggests that STM is an active processor of different types of information using
sub-units
(the phonological loop, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, episodic buffer, that are coordinated by a central decision-making system).
Three main tasks of the Central Executive are:
1) Supervisory function (coordinates the activities of three short-term memory sub-systems)
2) Monitors incoming data from the senses and LTM
3) Makes decisions about how to allocate other components of STM to tasks
The
phonological loop
processes information in terms of
sound
and preserves the order in which the information arrives (this includes both: written and spoken material).
The phonological loop is subdivided into:
the phonological store - is used to process information in terms of sound and preserve the order in which information arrives, like an "inner ear".
the articulatory process - which is used for words that are heard or seen. It allows maintenance rehearsal (repeating sounds or words in a "loop" in your head to keep them in working memory while they are needed, like an "inner voice".
The capacity of this loop is believed to be 2 seconds' worth of what you can say.
The phonological loop contributes to our learning of language (phonology). It accesses LTM to store and retrieve information about language sounds, which allows us to develop our vocabulary as children, and in foreign languages as well.
The
visuo-spatial sketchpad
processes
visual and spatial
information in a mental space often called our "inner eye".
Logie (1995) subdivided the VSS into:
The visual cache - which stores visual data
The inner scribe - which records the arrangement of objects in the visual field (spatial relations)
The visuo-spatial sketchpad contributes to our understanding of "visual semantics" - the meanings of objects in our visual environment, It can easily access LTM to store and retrieve visa-spatial information.
For example, if someone says to you "think of an object you can sit on", we can easily retrieve an image of a chair or sofa from LTM.
Episodic buffer
was added by Baddeley in 2000.
It brings together material from other slave systems into a single memory rather than separate stands (it is a temporary store of information, integrating the visual, spatial and acoustic information processed by other stores as well as the central executive, and maintaining a sense of time sequencing.
It basically records events (episodes) that are happening.
It can be seen as the storage component of the central executive and has
a limited capacity of about 4 chunks
.
It also provides a bridge between working memory and LTM, sending the information to LTM.
Strengths of the WMM:
Brain imaging studies show that specific parts of the brain light up when certain tasks are performed. This shows that separate systems (like in the model) are at work.
Studies on memory on brain damaged patients perform better on certain tasks using visual imagery as opposed to verbal information, showing that separate systems are at work.
As the model predicts, when we multi-task, our performance in each task will worsen.
Weaknesses of the WMMl:
The central executive has very little experimental support to prove it exists. It is said to have limited capacity but it is not established.
There is no part in the model that shows how information is communicated to LTM and does not say how.
There are differences in reading, writing and spelling for different people which is linked to how the model works but it does not explain why these differences occur.
Comparison with the MSM
The multi-store model was created by Atkinson and Sfifrin and suggests that memory is made up of three stores linked by processing.
The WMM only focuses on the short-term memory or working memory, where as the MSM focuses on all parts of memory.
The MSM unlike the WMM portrays the short-term memory as a single unit and not as a combination of versatile and independent components.
In the WMM memory is considered an active process and not just a passive store of information, unlike the MSM.
Robbins et al (1996)
PARTICIPANTS:
20 male participants ranging fron weak chess players to grandmasters from various chess clubs in Cambridge, UK
TASK:
Participants viewed an arrangement of 16 chess pieces on a standard board for 10 seconds and were then required to recreate the arrangement from memory on a second board.
There were four conditions with four arrangements to reconstruct in each.
Condition 1: No additional task.
Condition 2: The phonological loop was suppressed by having the participants say "the" once per second using a metronome to pace them.
Condition 3: The visuo-spatial sketchpad was suppressed by asking the participants to press an arrangement of keys on a calculator with one hand whilst arranging the chess pieces with the other.
Condition 4: The participants had to say random letters aloud (paced with the metronome) in order to block the central executive.
RESULTS:
-Blocking visuo-spatial sketchpad and central executive function significantly reduced the ability to reconstruct the chess boards which supports the WMM that states that one each component of the working memory can deal successfully only with one task at a time.
-The articulatory suppression task did not interfere significantly with this skill.
-The stronger players performed better than the weaker players since the first ones have more experience and they have definitely been practicing more often.
One
strength
of this experiment is that it was conducted in a laboratory environment. The IV were highly controlled which reduced the influence of any extraneous variables.
One
weakness
of this experiment is that it may lack ecological validity. This means that the artificiality of the settings may produce unnatural behavior that does not reflect real life.
The experimental design used in the experiment is repeated measures. Therefore, there is risk of observing order effects (e.g. practice / fatigue effects, or demand characteristics) since all 20 participants had to do all 4 conditions.
AIM:
To test WMM which predicts that two tasks cannot be done successfully if they use the same component of working memory.
Case study of KF
Tim Shallice and Elizabeth Warrington (1970)
KF had a clinical memory disorder called amnesia.
KF's STM for digits was very
poor
when they were
read out loud
to him.
But his recall
improved
when
he read
the digits to
himself
.
The study supports the WMM by providing the evidence of more than one STM store.
KF could not remember the digits if they were read to him (his phonological loop was, apparently, impaired).
However, if he was reading the digits to himself, he could remember them better (probably, because his auto-visual sketchpad was functioning less impaired).
