working memory model

Baddeley and Hitch (1974) said the short term memory was more complex than a single store, so they disliked Atkinson and Shiffrin's idea as they believed STM is much more active, holding several pieces of info and working on them at the same time

It only focuses on the short term memory and the separate parts of it

Evidence:

• Dual task test - Digit span test at the same time as verbal reasoning test, participants made few errors on either, so there must be more than one component.

They saw STM as a workspace that can deal with more than one task at a time, providing that they are dealt with by different parts of the memory system.

The coordinator of working memory, it works like a filter to process information fro the sense organs, deciding which to attend to and which slave system to send them too

• collects responses
• limited capacity
• modality free - not tied to a specific sense
• directs info to correct slave system
• monitors and co-ordinates the operation of the other 3 components

Deals with auditory info and the order of info.  It has limited capacity, determind by how much can be spoken out loud in about two seconds. It has 2 sub systems

• phonological store - words recently heard / 'inner ear'
• articulatory control system - keeps info in loop through sub-vocal repetition + linked to speech production / 'inner voice'

It explains

1. why similar sounding words get muddled up as it's tricky to distingish them by sound

2. that the capacity limit is decided by time needed for mental articulation, so we remember a list of short words more than long as we can repeat more of them

Baddley et al (1975) reported the word length effect - participants able to recall more short words than long words; more can be said/ repeated in 2 seconds

deals with visual information and spatial awareness

• limited capacity
• linked to an 'inner scribe' that acts as a rehearsal mechanism / called the 'inner eye'

EVIDENCE

• Shepard and Feng (1972)
• asked participants to imagine folding nets of boxes and decide if arrow heads would meet
• time taken to decide is relative to number of folds required, so they must be visualising

Added to the model in 2000 to explain how it's possible to temporarily store info from the slave systems, central executive and LTM, it's like a waiting room

EVIDENCE

• Alkhalifa (2009) reported on a patient with impaired LTM who had a short term memory of 25items
• This exceeds the capacity of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad combined
• evidence of episodic buffer which holds info in working memory until they are recalled

- Baddely couldn't drive straight while listening to the non-famailiar sport american football (2 V.S.S.P) but could when listening to music (1 V.S.S.P & 1 P.L) = separte parts do different hings

- Dual task test = different parts

- Alkhalifa's 25 words = ep. buffer

- Shepard and Feng's boxes = V.S.S.P

- patient K.F had brain damage, difficulty processing verbal info (P.L.L) but could process visual information (V.S.S.P) = more than one element