the working memory model...

proposed by Baddeley and hitch the working memory model s a challenge to the MULTI STORE MODEL proposed by Atkinson and shiffrin. They claimed that the short term memory is a unitary store, however this model proposes that memory is an alliance of several memory systems working together. this model is mostly interested in the STM and how it intergrates informations.
the model puts forward a system involving active processing and short term storage information. it suggest that there are three main components of working memory;
1. the central executive
2. the phonological loop
3. the visuo-spatial scratchpad
4. the episodic buffer
WHAT DO THESE COMPONENTS DO?
1. the central executive; This is the key component of the working memory, the function is to direct attention to particular tasks, determining at any time how the three slave systems are allocated to tasks. it has a limited capacity and cant attend to many tasks at once. the central executive acts like an attention system deciding which information entering the senses should be attended to.
2. the phonological loop (slave system 1); The phonological loop deals with auditory information and preserves the order of information. it consists of the phonological store and the articulatory loop. the phonological store holds the words you hear like a inner ear, its similar to the articulatory loop in that it stores sound but it stores sound without meaning. it stores acoustically coded items in sequence for a short period of time. the articulatory loop is used for words that are heard or seen these words are silently repeated (looped) like an inner voice, a form of maintenance rehearsal. the articulatory loop holds verbal information in auditory code. it silently repeats words that are heard or seen, eg trying to remember a phone number, you 'hear' it being repeated in your head.
3. the visuo-spatial scratchpad (slave system 2) this stores/manipulates visual and spatial information, it deals with information involved in pattern recognition and perception of movement. it deals with what items look like and the physical relationship between them, its active during visual tasks.
4. the episodic buffer (slave system 4) this is an extra storage system that has a limited capacity, just like the other working memory components, the episodic buffer integrates/ brings together information from the central executive, phonological loop, visuo spatial sketchpad and also long term memory.
EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE WORKING MEMORY MODEL...
the key study to the working memory model is BADDELEY AND HITCH 1974.
aim; to investigate whether participants can use different parts of working memory at the same time. the dual task technique was used to test this.
method; participants were given two tasks to do simultaneously (at the same time). task 1; ps were given a task that occupied the visuo-spatial sketchpad (eg draw a cat) and articulatory loop (repeating word the). task 2; ps were given a task that involved both the articulatory loop and the articulatory loop!
results; task 2 was completed more slowly by participants when they were given a task involing the same component (articulatory loop). task 1 was completed much quicker when given tasks that involved different components (articulatory loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad.
conclusion; the study suggests that oing two tasks that involve the same component causes difficulty. it also suggest that when different components are used performance is not affected.
EVAULUATION OF BADDELEY AND HITCH;
strength; AS ITS A LAB EXPERIMENT IT HAS HIGH LEVELS OF CONTROL OVER EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES AND THEREFORE WE CAN EASILY ESTABLISH CAUSE AND EFFECT. THEREFORE ALSO THE EXPERIMENTER CAN BE SURE THAT THE IV (TYPE OF TASK PS UNDERGOES) DIRECTLY EFFECTED THE DV (LENGTH OF TIME IT TOOK PARTICIPANTS TO UNDERGO THIS TASK). THIS IS A STRENGTH AS BADDELEY AND HITCHS RESULTS ARE RELIABLE AND STRONGLY SUPPORT THE CLAIMS OF THE WORKING MODEL OF MEMORY THAT STATES THE STM IS NOT A UNITARY STORE.
weakness; AS ITS A LAB EXPERIMENT IT THEREFORE HAS LOW ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY AND THE METHOD THAT BADDELEY AD HITCH USED DOESNT TEST MEMORY IN A REALISTIC AND MEANINGFUL WAY. BY ANSWERING A SET OF TRUE OR FALSE QUESTIONS WHILST SIMULATENOUSLY COMPLETEING ANOTHER TAK IT DOESNT TEST THE TRUE COMPLEXITY OF THE STM. THIS IS A LIMITATION AS BADDLEY AND HITCHS RESULTS CANNOT NESSARSARILY BE GENERALISED TO REAL LIFE AND THEREFORE MAY NOT PROVIDE VALID SUPPORT FOR THE WMM.
HOW DOES THIS STUDY SUPPORT THE WMM?
The results suggest that its easier to do two taks at the same time if they use different processing systems than if you use the same slave system, this shows that stm is more complex than suggested by the MSM, and suggest that stm is better seen as a number of independent processing mechanisms rather than as a unitary store. it also supports the assumption that the components have a limited capacity.

EVALUATION OF THE WORKING MEMORY MODEL;
strengths; one strength is that it gives a detailed explanation of how the stm works and is a significant advancement from the multi-store model. the model explains why its possible to simultaneously complete two tasks that require different slave systems and why its difficult to complete two tasks that require the same system.
ANOTHER STRENGTH; it has support from PET scans, as they have shown brain activity occuring in different areas when individuals are carrying out different tasks and this activity corresponds with the four systems that the model proposes. this is a strength as it suggest that the stm does have different compnents a the wmm maintains.

weakness; the multi store model challenges the components of the working memory model, the msm proposes that stm is not made up of four separate stores instead it claims the stm is a single unitary store. the msm therefore challenges the idea of the central executive, and the 3 slave systems.
ANOTHER WEAKNESS; psychologists know very little about the central executive, as its extremely hard to study and we therefore cannot be ure that it does indeed monitor and coordinate the slave systems in the way that the model suggests. this is a limitation because the central executive is believed to be the most important component of working memory yet we know the least about it.

	Created by Pia Ricioppo over 11 years ago

as level psychology aqa unit 1; memory