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The Working-Memory Model - Coggle Diagram
The Working-Memory Model
The WMM is a representation of short-term memory, proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974). According to the WMM, STM is a processor of different information, using smaller units which are co-ordinated by a central decision making system.
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· it can store information for short periods, but has a limited capacity
· it is responsible for a wide range of important control processes such as: monitoring/correcting errors, and retrieving information from long-term memory
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· people with damage to this area (the pre-frontal cortex) have problems with planning, organising, monitoring and starting tasks and thus, this is what the central executive is responsible for
Central Executive - Research
Baddeley (1996) discovered participants found it difficult to generate lists of random numbers while simultaneously switching between pressing numbers and letters on a keyboard – the two tasks are competing for CE resources. This supports the idea of the CE being limited in capacity and only being able to cope with one type of info at a time.
THE ‘SLAVE’ SYSTEMS
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Episodic Buffer
this is the 3rd slave system, which was added in 2000.
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· it integrates the visual, spatial and verbal information processed by other stores, and maintains a sense of time sequencing
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The Phonological Loop
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· the phonological store (‘inner ear’) holds auditory memory traces for a few seconds (2) and is concerned with speech perception
· the articulatory loop (‘inner voice’) is used to prepare speech, and is concerned with speech production – it has a limited capacity
Phonological Loop – Research
Baddeley et al. (1975) investigated the existence of a phonological loop in STM. Participants saw everyday words displayed very quickly after the other. Condition 1 had a list containing one-syllable worlds and condition 2 had a list containing polysyllabic words. Baddeley found that participants were able to recall the shorter, one-syllable words much better (“word length effect”). Therefore, we can conclude that the phonological loop has a role in the capacity of STM. The amount you can hold is determined by the length of time it takes to say the words – not the number of items.
EVALUATION:
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E: it is unclear what the central executive is, as it is the least understood component: some psychologists believe it consists of further separate components
E: therefore, the WMM explanation is incomplete and potentially lacks credibility as an explanation because it can’t offer a full explanation of its purpose and function.
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E: the model was developed based on evidence from laboratory experiments and so, confounding variables could be carefully controlled to produce reliable results.
E: however, results from laboratory experiments will often have low ecological validity, as the tasks used (such as describing the angles of a letter and repeating ‘the the the’) are not representative of everyday activities.
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E: HM and Clive Wearing both suffered from massive impairment to their episodic memory, due to amnesia – however, their semantic memories (eg. understanding the meanings of words) were mostly unaffected and their procedural memories (eg. Clive could still play the piano) were fine.
E: This shows that if one store is damaged, the others can remain unaffected – which supports Endel Tulving’s view that in LTM there are different memory stores, that are located in different parts of the brain.
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E: for example, Gathercole and Baddeley (1993) found that participants had more difficulty completing two tasks that involved using the VSS, compared to using the VSS and the PL – suggesting that they are separate slave systems
E: this provides support for the WMM, and thus increases its credibility