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Working Memory Model
Criteria B
● The WMM is a development of the MSM. Baddeley and Hitch (1974) developed a new model. ● Their model suggests that STM consists of multiple different stores. This was suggested from studies which used dual-task technique where the participant will essentially multi-task. ● They found that when participants performed two tasks related to listening, they performed less well. However, when doing two tasks which involved listening and vision, there wasn’t a problem. ○ This led to propose different stores for different types of information.
● There are several components of the WMM: the central executive, the slave systems (phonological loop, episodic buffer, visuospatial sketchpad), and long-term memory storage. ● The central executive’s function is attention control. It is responsible for monitoring the operation of the slave systems. It decides which information should be given attention to. ● The phonological loop holds auditory information. It has two components. ○ The phonological store is like an inner ear and holds speech-based information. ○ The articulatory control system is like an inner voice and rehearses information from the phonological store. As long as there is frequent rehearsal, the more likely it will be stored in LTM.
● The visuospatial sketchpad stores visual and spatial information. ● The episodic buffer is a sort of backup store which is fed by the slave systems, and is linked to central executive. It holds information temporarily and combines different types of information.
Note: articulatory suppression is the process of inhibiting memory performance by speaking while being presented with an item to remember.
Criteria C
Study #1: Landry & Bartling (2011)
Aim
To investigate if articulatory suppression affected memory.
Procedure
- The participants were psychology students.
- In the experimental group, participants saw a list of letters, then had to recall them while speaking aloud (articulatory suppression task).
- The the control group, the participants saw a list of letters, but had to recall without speaking aloud.
Findings/Results
● The scores of the experimental group were much lower than the control group. ● The participants in the experimental group had a more difficult time recalling information.
Conclusion
● The results support the WMM because disruption of the phonological loop through the use of articulatory suppression lead to less accurate working memory.
Criteria D
Evaluation of study
Sample bias ● Psychology students were used for the study. They are not representative of the population.
Criteria D
Evaluation of study
Research method: case study ● Since the research method used was a case study, it is difficult to generalise the findings. ● This is because only one patient was used and he may have been exhibiting emic behaviour.
Longitudinal study ● The case study was longitudinal allowing the researchers to be more precise in their investigation and findings. ● Longitudinal studies also allowed the researchers to find patterns over time in the patient’s memory.
Researcher bias ● The researchers developed a relationship with Patient KF due to the study being longitudinal. ● This may have influenced the results and gotten too involved because they had become emotionally attached.
Ethical considerations ● Since Patient KF suffered from brain damage, it is difficult to know how well-informed he was about this study. ● Patient KF may not have completely understood what he was getting into. ● This is important because we can’t be sure if gave consent to the experiment or not.
Criteria D
Evaluation of theory
Strengths ● Some aspects are testable. For instance, dual task techniques can be used to test WMM. ● There is a lot of empirical evidence for WMM through experiments and case studies. ○ Landry & Bartling (2011)
○ Warrington & Shallice (1972) → patient KF who suffered from brain damage, but his visual short term memory wasn’t as affected ● Furthermore, brain scans have shown that different parts of the brain are activated by different tasks. ○ This supports WMM because the model suggests different types of information are held in different stores. ● It is applicable to patients who have suffered from brain damage. It explains why we can multitask. ○ It also relates to specific tasks in our everyday lives. For e.g. reading = phonological loop, problem solving = central executive.
Limitations ● The variables are not clearly defined because we can’t measure each component separately. ○ It’s difficult to measure the role of the central executive separately from the other parts of the model. ● The model only applies to short-term memory. It doesn’t explain ○ Long-term memory ○ Memory distortion ○ How emotion has an impact on memory
