This is a key theory for Unit 1 and you need to know it in detail. This includes all the parts of the model, the research supporting it and strengths and weaknesses. Baddeley's addition of the Episodic Buffer is not in the Specification, but should be learned by students aiming for the top band. Make sure you can apply the model, explaining how it accounts for ordinary remembering and forgetting.
|
CONTENTS
Baddeley & Hitch (1974) Processes of Working Memory AO1 Improvements to Working Memory (2000) Research into Working Memory Applying Working Memory AO2 Evaluating Working Memory AO3 Exemplar Essay Working Memory FAQ |
BADDELEY & HITCH (1974)
|
PROCESSES OF WORKING MEMORY AO1
Describing Theories can be done by following the 4 CONs, which stand for Context, Concepts, Conclusions and Construction. Theories also needs to be Applied (AO2) and Evaluated (AO3), which will be dealt with later
|
|
Baddeley noticed in many earlier memory experiments that participants who were asked to listen to two things at the same time or look at two things at the same time became confused. However participants were quite able to listen to something while looking at something else. This suggests that sound and vision are processed separately by memory (this idea is the dual test paradigm).
Baddeley and Hitch proposed a basic version of Working Memory, which can be defined as:
Baddeley and Hitch proposed a basic version of Working Memory, which can be defined as:
a temporary storage system under attentional control that underpins
our capacity for complex thought - Alan Baddeley
Within Working Memory, one memory system handles sound (the Phonological Loop or “inner ear”) and another handles vision (the Visuo Spatial Sketchpad or “inner eye”).
These two “slave systems” are managed by the Central Executive. Baddeley & Hitch describe the CE as being like a “little man” (“homunculus”) inside your head, organising your memories.
The Phonological Loop seems to be split into two sub-systems: an Articulatory Loop (inner voice) which voices information you are rehearsing and a Primary Acoustic Store which just holds on to the memory of sounds. The Articulatory Loop (or Process) engages in something called "subvocalising" which is that mental "talking to yourself" that goes on in your head. It's similar to the Rehearsal Loop in the Multi Store Model.
These two “slave systems” are managed by the Central Executive. Baddeley & Hitch describe the CE as being like a “little man” (“homunculus”) inside your head, organising your memories.
- The CE itself doesn’t handle memories but it allocates them to the slave systems. It retrieves information the 5 senses or from LTM and assigns it to the Loop or the VSSP for processing. It has non-specific modality – it can process sight, sound or any of the 5 senses.
The Phonological Loop seems to be split into two sub-systems: an Articulatory Loop (inner voice) which voices information you are rehearsing and a Primary Acoustic Store which just holds on to the memory of sounds. The Articulatory Loop (or Process) engages in something called "subvocalising" which is that mental "talking to yourself" that goes on in your head. It's similar to the Rehearsal Loop in the Multi Store Model.
IMPROVEMENTS TO WORKING MEMORY (2000, 2007)
Baddeley carried on doing research with patients with amnesia who couldn’t encode new memories (see the Schmolck et al. study for examples of this). He found that some of these patients could repeat back far more details of a story than they could be keeping in the Phonological Loop.
In 2000, Baddeley published a new version of Working Memory with a new, third slave system: the Episodic Buffer. This system works between the Loop and the VSSP and specialises in episodic LTM, bringing elements of information together into patterns or stories.
In 2000, Baddeley published a new version of Working Memory with a new, third slave system: the Episodic Buffer. This system works between the Loop and the VSSP and specialises in episodic LTM, bringing elements of information together into patterns or stories.
The Episodic Buffer is multi-modal - it's not limited to one sense only, like the other two slave systems. It's job seems to be to "bind" memories together, weaving visual memories and phonological memories into single episodes, which then get stored in Episodic LTM.
Baddeley describes the Episodic Buffer as:
Baddeley describes the Episodic Buffer as:
a temporary storage system that is able to combine information from
the loop, the sketchpad, long-term memory, or indeed from perceptual
input, into a coherent episode - Alan Baddeley
The Central Executive picks and chooses the information from the Phonological Loop and the VSSP that go into the Episodic Buffer to form an episode of memory. The Episodic Buffer also seems to "download" episodes from LTM, sending them on to the Central Executive to be analysed and maybe recalled to conscious memory.
RESEARCH INTO WORKING MEMORY
|
The Cocktail Party Effect
The “Cocktail Party Effect” is the confusion you experience when you are trying to listen to two conversations at once. It’s an example of the Dual Task Paradigm. Working Memory explains why we experience this. The Loop and the VSSP are supposed to work together but if you have two sources of information that must be processed by the same slave system (two sets of sounds or two sets of images) then the slave system gets overloaded. This doesn’t happen when you are processing two different sources of information – which is why you can play on your Xbox and listen to your mother at the same time (despite her telling you that you can’t). Dementia & Alzheimer’s
Dementia sufferers have particular trouble with dual tasks. Baddeley & Erses adapted tasks for Alzheimer’s sufferers and found they still struggled with this, Baddeley suggests this is a fault with the Central Executive which may explain a lot of dementia symptoms. The dual load can be reduced by creating a quiet environment for dementia sufferers without background noise (turn off the TV/radio etc). The Episodic Buffer was introduced to the model to explain why brain-damaged patients can still recall stories or lists without the use of LTM. It may explain why Cognitive Stimulation works for dementia patients. Cognitive Stimulation uses prompts and activities to reawaken early memories and get patients to talk about their lives. Pulling memories together into a story is the job of the Episodic Buffer which can “pick up the slack” from the other two slave systems. You can use all of this in your Cognitive Key Question. |
Credibility
There’s a lot of research in support of Working Memory, particularly into the dual task paradigm. These show that some dual tasks are more difficult than others (for example, ones where there are two sources of information with the same encoding) and Working Memory explains why this should be. The idea of the “inner ear” and the “inner eye” are quite easy to understand and match up with what it feels like when we remember things – this is called face validity. The model has also been backed up by brain scanning which shows acoustic and visual encoding going on in different parts of the brain.
Objections
New data has emerged which the original (1974) model couldn’t explain – such as the brain-damaged patients who could repeat complex stories. However, the addition of the Episodic Buffer (2000) does improve the model. More research needs to be done on the Episodic Buffer because, unless the other two slave systems, it isn’t completely clear what it does. The model is based on lab experiments involving dual tasks. These are quite artificial. In real life, even at cocktail parties, you use your other senses (such as paying attention to body language or lip-reading when someone speaks). If the experiments into Working Memory lack ecological validity, then the model won’t explain how memory works in real life situations.
Differences
Working Memory is similar to the Multi Store Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968). In fact, you might say Working Memory is a development of the MSM, with Working Memory replacing the STM Store. It’s still a linear model of memory, with the idea of information coming from the senses to the Sensory Store, being processed in Working Memory then encoded into LTM, from which is can be retrieved by the Central Executive. Working Memory is regarded as the most successful memory model at the moment because it is supported by evidence about the structure of the brain and the Working Memory model gets updated in the light of new discoveries in neuroscience. It is a model that is still developing (such as the addition of the Episodic Buffer in 2000) whereas the MSM is “fixed” and has not developed much since the ‘70s.
Reconstructive Memory is a different approach to memory involving schemas. However, in Working Memory it is the Central Executive that creates and retrieves schemas to help the slave systems do their jobs. This is another example of Working Memory incorporating and improving on other theories. Applications Working Memory tells us how to improve our memory in some situations. If you have to encode something in one particular way (like listening to a radio broadcast) then remove competing information (by muting the TV). However, it suggests you can concentrate on two differently coded sources at once – so you can do revision by copying a mind map while listening to a podcast. The model may have application to helping people with dementia. Using the Episodic Buffer seems to help people who cannot encoded memories in LTM or have trouble retrieving LTM. This means using Cognitive Stimulation: playing an old song and asking the patient to tell the story of how they first heard it. |
Start with an evaluation point and back it up with evidence.
Evaluation + evidence = "logical chain of reasoning"
Issues & Debates (like psychology over time) make great conclusions
|
EXEMPLAR ESSAY
|
|
WORKING MEMORY FAQ
|