IB Psychology HL: Working Memory Model

Warrington and Shallice (1970) carried out a series of tests on patient KF, who had suffered brain damage as a result of a motorcycle accident. Even if KF had a problem with recalling lists of words and numbers, he had the ability to "learn" if information was presented to him visually. How do these findings support the WMM?

• It proves humans' affinity towards processing visual information

• It proves WMM's ability to temporarily hold information for use in any cognitive task

• It proves that there are separate stores

Warrington and Shallice (1970) later found that, while KF had difficulty recalling numbers or letters when presented orally, he had no problem recalling cats meowing or telephones ringing. What can you conclude from these findings?

• KF had damaged his phonological loop

• Separate stores exist for processing verbal vs. non-verbal information

• The ability to process non-verbal information is more evolutionarily advantageous than verbal information processing

The phonological loop consists of the articulatory system and the phonological store. The articulatory control system, or inner voice, and is used when we try to remember things like phone numbers. The phonological store holds auditory memory traces and is used when we try to repeat foreign words. According to Warrington and Shallice (1970), KF could process non-verbal information. Which component would likely be involved in this?

• The articulatory control system

• The phonological store

The discovery of more specific findings (particularly that KF can recall non-verbal information, as has been heavily exploited in the past 3 questions), could be said to have occurred as a result of a key design feature in Warrington and Shallice (1970)'s study. What was the design that enabled this?

• The fact that the study was a case study

• The longitudinal nature of the study

• The investigation of cognition through a novel theory (WMM)

• The biological basis of the study

Landry and Bartling (2011) conducted an experiment using articulatory suppression, where participants were asked to repeat a word or number while memorizing another list of words (dual-task technique). Using what you know about how stores function in the Working Memory Model, predict their findings.

• If participants performed tasks that utilized the SAME stores simultaneously, their recall was MORE accurate

• If participants performed tasks that utilized the SAME stores simultaneously, their recall was LESS accurate

• If participants performed tasks that utilized DIFFERENT stores simultaneously, their recall was LESS accurate.

Landry and Bartling (2011) concluded that the disruption of the phonological loop (implicated in speech and articulation) through the use of articulatory suppression results in less accurate recall. Based on the WMM, why do you think this is?

• Utilizing different stores at the same time requires large amounts of attention. Because participants' attention had to be split between two activities, they had less accurate recall.

• Cognitive processing in working memory relies on System 1 Thinking. Articulatory suppression requires that we use System 2 Thinking, resulting in less accurate recall.

• Utilizing the same stores at the same time results in overload. The overload (caused by articulatory suppression—using the same stores at the same time) prevents rehearsal in the phonological loop.

In Landry and Bartling (2011), participants were tested for serial recall (the sequence/order of the letters). The letters needed to be in the correct position in order for the participants' answer to be marked as correct. What are some of the reasons as to why this is? (ie. Why would the study be testing this?)

• One of the components of the phonological loop, the phonological store holds onto memory traces. The serial positioning effect dictates that we best recall the first and last item in a series. Yet, articulatory suppression, as used in the study, interferes with this.

• One of the components of the phonological loop, supervisory attention, controls where we focus our auditory attention. Once information is attended to, it can be rehearsed. Yet, articulatory suppression, as used in the study, interferes with this.

• One of the components of the phonological loop, the articulatory control system, is our inner voice. When we read to ourselves, the order/sequence of the words is "heard" through this voice. Yet, articulatory suppression, as used in the study, interferes with this.

In Landry and Bartling (2011), participants saw a series of 7 letters randomly constructed from the letters F, K, L, M, R, X, and Q. From what you know about the study, what would be the most plausible reason for selecting these letters?

• These letters were chosen because they looked similar.

• These letters were chosen because they did not sound similar.

• These letters were chosen because they were uncommon.

In Landry and Bartling (2011), participants in the control group (no articulatory suppression) had to wait 5 seconds before they were tested on recall. In contrast, the experimental group could not stop articulatory suppression (repeatedly saying the numbers '1' and '2') until they finished filling in the answer sheet. Why is this?

• The control group waited 5 seconds to prevent the recency effect. The experimental group continued articulatory suppression to prevent rehearsal (primacy effect) in the phonological loop.

• The control group waited 5 seconds to clear information from their sensory stores. The experimental group continued articulatory suppression in order to ensure that information could not be processed at a deeper level.

What are some possible implications/applications of Landry and Bartling (2011)? There are multiple right answers—think carefully!

• The results of the study can be used to explain why it is difficult to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time.

• The results of study can used to explain why certain types of multi-tasking are inefficient.

• The results of the study can be used to explain why driving (visual) while talking (phonological) increases the chances of a car accident.

• The results of the study can be used to explain why playing piano with two hands on different rhythms is initially challenging.