1. Alan Baddeley and his coauthors proposed a working-memory approach in which immediate memory is not a passive storehouse; instead, it resembles a workbench where material is continuously being combined and transformed. 2. In a classic study, Baddeley and Hitch (1974) demonstrated that people could
perform a verbal task and a spatial task simultaneously, with minimal reduction in speed and accuracy.
3. In the working-memory approach, the phonological loop briefly stores a lim- ited number of sounds, as demonstrated by the pronunciation-time research; additional research shows that items stored in the loop can be confused with other similar-sounding items.
4. The phonological loop is also used for tasks such as reading, learning vocabu- lary, problem solving, and remembering information.
5. Neuroscience research reveals that phonological tasks typically activate the left hemisphere, including the frontal lobe, the temporal lobe, and the parietal lobe. 6. A second component of the working-memory approach is the visuospatial sketchpad, which stores visual and spatial information. The capacity of this fea- ture is also limited; two visuospatial tasks will interfere with each other if they are performed simultaneously.
7. Activation of the visuospatial sketchpad is typically associated with the right hemisphere, especially the occipital region (for visual tasks), the frontal region, and the parietal region.
8. The central executive integrates information from the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the episodic buffer—as well as from long-term mem- ory. The central executive is important in such tasks as focusing attention, select- ing strategies, and suppressing irrelevant information. However, it does not store information.
9. The central executive cannot perform two challenging tasks simultaneously; for example, daydreaming interferes with generating a random-number sequence. 10. According to neuroscience research, the central executive primarily activates
various regions within the frontal lobe.
11. A relatively new component to Baddeley’s working-memory approach is called the “episodic buffer”; this component temporarily stores material from the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, and long-term memory. 12. Many psychologists are investigating individual differences in working memory
that are related to components of working memory. This research shows that high scores on working-memory tasks are correlated with intelligence, grades in school, verbal fluency, and reading comprehension. Also, children with ADHD have difficulty on many central-executive tasks.
13. Adults who experience major depression have difficulty with a variety of tasks involv- ing the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the central executive.
Keywords 117
CHAPTER REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Describe Miller’s classic concept about the magical number 7 ± 2. Why are chunks relevant to this concept? How did the Atkinson-Shiffrin model incor- porate the idea of limited memory?
2. What is the serial position effect? Why is this effect related to short-term mem- ory? Also discuss another classic method of measuring short-term memory. 3. What does the research on pronunciation time tell us about the limits of work-
ing memory? What specific aspect of Baddeley’s model is most likely to be related to pronunciation time?
4. Suppose that you have just been introduced to five students from another col- lege. Using the information on pronunciation time and semantic similarity, why would you find it difficult to remember their names immediately after they have been introduced? How could you increase the likelihood of your remembering their names?
5. According to the discussion of Baddeley’s approach, working memory is not just a passive storehouse. Instead, it is like a workbench where material is con- tinually being handled, combined, and transformed. Why is the workbench metaphor more relevant for Baddeley’s model than for the Atkinson-Shiffrin model?
6. This chapter describes Baddeley and Hitch’s (1974) research on remember- ing numbers while performing a spatial reasoning task. Why does this research suggest that a model of working memory must have at least two separate stores?
7. Name some tasks that you have performed today that required the use of your phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, the central executive, and the episodic buffer. Can you think of a specific task that uses all four of these working- memory components, as well as long-term memory?
8. What does the central executive do? Why is the metaphor of a business exec- utive relevant when discussing its role in working memory?
9. Turn to Figure 2.1 on page 35. Using the descriptions that you have read in the current chapter, point out which parts of the brain are active for tasks that require (a) the phonological loop, (b) the visuospatial sketchpad, and (c) the central executive.
10. For many decades, researchers in the area of human memory primarily studied college students who are enrolled in introductory psychology courses. Why would the research on working memory not be applicable for someone who is currently experiencing major depression?
KEYWORDS working memory short-term memory long-term memory chunk rehearsal
serial position effect
recency effect primacy effect control processes
semantics
proactive interference (PI) release from proactive
interference working-memory approach phonological loop subvocalization acoustic confusions visuospatial sketchpad central executive episodic buffer attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) major depression RECOMMENDED READINGS
Conway, A. R. A., et al. (Eds.). (2007). Variation in work-
ing memory. New York: Oxford University Press. Here
is an upper-level book with eleven chapters that focus on individual differences in both normal and atypical individuals. Each chapter concludes with a discussion about a standard set of four theoretical issues, a feature that increases the readability of this book.
Cowan, N. (2005). Working memory capacity. New York: Psychology Press. Here’s a book for any student who is considering graduate work in cognitive psychology. Cowan discusses theories and research about limits in memory capacity, but he also asks why human memory should have limitations.
Logie, R. H. (2003). Spatial and visual working mem- ory: A mental workspace. The Psychology of Learning
and Motivation, 42, 37–78. This article is an unusu-
ally clear description of the research about the
visuospatial sketchpad. The examples are especially well chosen.
Miyake, A. (Ed.). (2001b). Individual differences in work- ing memory [Special issue]. Journal of Experimental
Psychology: General, 130, 163–168. The June 2001 issue
of this journal presents six articles about individual dif- ferences in working memory. The topics include chil- dren’s working-memory capacity, working memory and math anxiety, and working memory and the Scholastic Assessment Test.
Pickering, S. J. (Ed.) (2006c). Working memory and educa-
tion. Burlington, MA: Elsevier. I strongly recommend
this book for undergraduate libraries, because the chap- ters emphasize applications of working memory to edu- cation, rather than focusing on theoretical approaches. A clearly written chapter by Alan Baddeley provides a current discussion of his approach to working memory.