Memory
An explanation of the Working
memory model.
A diagram...what the hell is this???
Psychologist
The
information
needs Visual
skills that only
psychologists
have.
Central executive assigns the information
to the relevant dept/person for the job.
But it can only do this one piece of information at a timeIt has a limited capacity (like the STM!)
Politician
This
information
requires
phonological
attention.
Counsellor
This information
needs a good
listener someone
with auditory
skills..
All as one!
•
All of the centres work together to process
the information.
• But the central executive has overall
responsibility for control processes e.g.
1. Setting tasks
2. Planning & co-ordinating the activity that
needs to e carried out.
3. Switching attention between tasks.
• Thus you could name the central executive
the fat controller.
Phonological Loop
Known by some as the inner voice-
It has a limited capacity with only
temporary storage for holding verbal
information (spoken).
Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad.
Also known as the ‘inner eye’ again like the
phonological loop it has a limited capacity & a
temporary storage system for holding visual
(seen) and spatial
information.
Working memory model
• Therefore we have established the Phonological loop and Visuo
spatial Sketchpad are ‘slave systems’ that support the central
executive.
• Their space can be used and freed up, thus supporting the
demands of information –processing tasks.
• However it is important to remember the slave systems have
separate responsibilities and work independently of one another.
Is there any evidence to support
the different stores?
• In short...there have been a number of
studies that have strived to support the
model. What is needed is:
• An understanding of the research.
• Methodological Issues.
• Ethical Issues.
Evidence- Visuo scratchpad.
• Conrad (1964)- When presenting Ps with visual
letters they become muddled when asked to recall
similar sounding letters immediately e.g. ‘s’ & ‘f’.
• Baddeley (2003)-Visualising American football game
whilst driving. He found the car began to swerve.
• McClelland et al (2006)-Imagine fav foods whilst
forehead tracking (tapping an imaginary line across
the forehead & follow fingers with eyes.)
• Each of the above found the tasks difficult as two
things at once on one store impairs performance!
Evidence-Central Executive.
• Imbo et al (2007)- Changing difficulty
of sums. He changed the carry over to
make the sums more difficult e.g. 17 x
17(easy) 17x 21(more difficult). Having
more sums makes it difficult on the
working memory and uses both the
Phonological loop & central executive.
Evidence- Phonological loop.
• Baddeley et al (1975)-Word length was
investigated. Ps were asked to write down 5
words in serial order immediately after
presentation. Simultaneously they were
prevented via interference from rehearsing
the information.
• Articulatory suppression fills the phonological
loop and removes the advantage of
rehearsing. The central executive takes over recall as some
words are recalled!!
In summary
• Within the WWM certain systems are
crystallized (i.e. They remain unchanged/ the
same) Whilst other systems are fluid i.e.
They have the potential to be more flexible.
crystallized
Central
Executive
Visuo-Spatial
Scratchpad
Episodic
Buffer
Visuo-spatial
Semantics.
Episodic LTM
Phonological
Loop
Language
fluid
The good, The bad, The ugly!
 The existence of the phonological loop and visuo-spatial
sketchpad is well documented.
 Practical Implications. (Reading skills)
 WWM influential and still being developed & expanded.
Not much is known about the Central executive (the most
integral store!) no one has been able to quantify it
scientifically.
Furthermore what is the role of the central executive.
Language is vague i.e. We find ourselves in a circular
argument.
Contradicting evidence: VSSP & Phonological loop working
together causes interference (Conrad 1964) measuring
brain activity should show this….it does not.