A Capacity Theory of Comprehension: Individual Differences in Working Memory

People rely on incoming information and stored information to perform their everyday functions. However, humans have a natural capacity of how much information they can attain. We are unable to store all of our acquired information without different systems that organize our information. Working memory is one of these systems that temporarily holds and manages information for cognitive processing (119). Baddeley’s working memory model is made up of four components that allow for temporary information to be stored (109).

Low levels of processing include operations like counting the letters in words and higher levels of processing might include forming semantic relationships such as understanding what the words’ meaning is. According to Craig and Lockhart who formulated this theory memory recall would improve as the information is processed in greater depth. However it has been hard to define exactly what depth is and it has been found that there are other factors that make people remember things. (Zachmeister, E.B., Nyberg 1982)

74. Raymond remembers, “When I was a sophomore, I took the hardest physics test of my life, and I was happy with my C.” This memory represents a(n)

Researchers such as Logie, Baddeley and Bunge generally agree that the short-term memory is made up of a number of components or subsystems. The working memory model has replaced the idea of a unitary store short-term memory as suggested by the multistore model. The working memory model explains a lot more and in a lot more detail than the multistore model. It makes sense a range of tasks- verbal reasoning, comprehension, reading, problem solving and visual and spatial processing, it also applies to real life tasks such as reading which involves the phonological loop subsystem, problem solving which involves the central executive and navigation which involves the visual and spatial subsystem. The Working Memory Model is supported by

Atkinson’s and Shiffrin’s (1968) multi-store model was extremely successful in terms of the amount of research it generated. However, as a result of this research, it became apparent that there were a number of problems with their ideas concerning the characteristics of short-term memory. Building on this research, Baddeley and Hitch (1974) developed an alternative model of short-term memory which they called working memory. Baddeley and Hitch (1974) argued that the picture of short-term memory (STM) provided by the Multi-Store Model is far too simple. According to the Multi-Store Model, STM holds limited amounts of information for short periods of time with relatively little processing. It is

He conditioned a dog to make it drool at the ring of a bell. Normally

Baddeley (2001) suggests a working memory system which consists of four components; a modality-free central executive, a phonological loop which holds information in speech based form, a visuo-spatial sketchpad and an episodic buffer which is the temporary storage system that holds and integrates information from the phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad and long-term memory (Eysenck & Keane, 2005).

As for the evidence of the working memory system, two British researches, Alan Baddley and Graham Hitch, have proposed a model in how to explain the working memory system. They have suggested that the system contains many different parts, and that the main working part of the system is the central executive. This central part is able to delegate tasks for the low-level “assistants” to handle, since these assistants are not able to actually analyze a situation on their own. The articulatory rehearsal loop is one of the assistances that allows a person to remember, and is the most beneficial in many ways. This assistant allows you to recall information that is previously stated by repetitively stating the information in our head, which is known as subvolcalization, or silent speech. Furthermore, Baddley and Hitch’s model suggest that we are able to see the existence of this working memory through “sound-alike” errors, because our bodies rely on this rehearsal loop or memory to recall information. In a study, there was a control group which was given a normal digit-span test. In the other group, people were asked to perform concurrent articulation when they took the test. Although this concurrent articulation is not difficult, it does affect the use of the articulatory loop and decreases the memory. With that being said, manipulation of a

This essay addresses the working memory model which was proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974 in Smith & Kosslyn, 2007) as a response to Atkinson and Shiffrins (1968 in Smith, 2007) multi-store model. According to Baddely and Hitch the multi-store model failed to explain most of the complexities of the human memory and viewed it as being too simplistic. They argued that the short term memory store must have more components rather it being a single inflexible store as suggested previously by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). The working memory model is therefore an enhancement of the multi store model. According to Baddeley and Hitch working memory is a limited- capacity system that stores and processes information.

Do you know what the Working memory model is? Per the website explorable.com, the working memory model was proposed by Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch in 1974. They had studied the 1968 Atkinson-Shiffrin model in 1968 and believed that the model’s short term memory store lacked detail. The 4 main components of the working memory model are; Central executive, Articulatory-Phonological loop, Visuospatial sketchpad, and Episodic buffer.

A disadvantage of the working memory model is that, although it is a major improvement on the multi-store model, it is oversimplified. There are several other types of information that are processed and briefly stored, however the model does not represent

Prior to the early 1970s the prominent idea of how memories were formed and retrieved revolved around the idea of processing memory into specific stores (Francis & Neath, 2014). These memory stores were identified as sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. In contrast to this idea, two researchers named Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart proposed an idea linking the type of encoding to retrieval (Goldstein, 2015). This idea is known as the levels of processing theory. According to this theory, memory depends on the depth of processing that a given item is received by an individual (Goldstein, 2015). Craik and Lockhart stressed four points in supporting their theory. First, they argued that memory was the result of a series of analyses, each level of the series forming a deeper level of processing than the preceding level (Francis & Neath, 2014). The shallow levels of processing were believed to hold less importance and are defined as giving little attention to meaning of an item. Examples of which include focusing on how a word sounds or memorizing a phone number by repeating it over and over again (Francis & Neath, 2014) (Goldstein, 2015). The deeper levels processing involve paying close attention to the meaning of an item and relating that meaning to something else, an example of which would be focusing on the meaning of a word rather than just how the word sounds (Francis & Neath, 2014) (Goldstein, 2015). The second point Craik and Lockhart

Strategies and devices that help us remember information that requires effortful processing are: encoding its meaning, visualizing, and mentally organizing the

Additionally, “working memory involves the temporary storage and manipulation of information that is assumed to be necessary for a wide range of complex cognitive activities” (Baddeley, 2003). It should log attention grabbers. For example: like the number of the jersey for a person who just won the marathon or a difficult word hollered out in the classroom by the teacher. However, this data will rapidly dissipate, unless we consciously attempt to maintain it. As you can see, the visual stimulus would be the number on the jersey of the marathon winner and the verbal stimulus would be the difficult word spoken by the teacher. Nonetheless, in order to keep this data and to transfer it to long term memory, through cognitive processes, this new data needs to append to information already in the long--term memory. This can be done through further cognitive processing like personal significance, social cues and other components of the short-term

Information processing models (IPM), first developed in the 1950s, seek to explain how learners’ observations and novel experiences are transformed via processes related to memory, cognition, and thinking to allow for new knowledge acquisition (Schraw & McCrudden, 2013). In this model, the brain functions in a similar manner as a computer—that is receiving inputs, processing the input, and delivering an output (In an article describing IPM, Schraw and McCrudden (2013) detail how the components of IPM work to form new knowledge. By this model, learning begins at the sensory memory level, the temporary register of inputs we sense. Up to 5-7 pieces of discreet data can be acknowledged by the brain at any given time. These data are processed in a very short amount of time, and if deemed stimulating or interesting, the data will be transferred to the working memory, otherwise it will be forgotten or discarded. In working memory, also called short-term memory, data are chunked into meaningful units or otherwise processed. Information in working memory can be lost due to interference, decay, or retrieval failure. Information that does remain in working memory is rehearsed or deeply processed before being sent to long term memory. Long term memory stores both inactivated memories, and activation memories that it sends back to the working memory for further processing and rehearsal (Schraw & McCrudden, 2013).