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Memory. An explanation of the Working memory model. A diagram...what the hell is this???. The information needs Visual skills that only psychologists have. Psychologist. Central executive assigns the information to the relevant dept/person for the job.
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Memory An explanation of the Working memory model.
The information needs Visual skills that only psychologists have. Psychologist 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 time- It has a limited capacity (like the STM!) Counsellor Politician This information needs a good listener someone with auditory skills.. This information requires phonological attention.
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. • Setting tasks • Planning & co-ordinating the activity that needs to e carried out. • 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. Central Executive crystallized Visuo-Spatial Scratchpad Episodic Buffer Phonological Loop Visuo-spatial Episodic LTM Language Semantics. 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.