Essay on Baddeley and Hitch’s Working Memory Model

10), an embedded approach, investigating the complexity of relationships of graphophonic knowledge. Additional activities to support phonics instruction include building word lists based on common elements (Pinnell & Fountas, 1998, p. 157), segmenting words into onset and rime (Emmitt et al, 2013, p.12) and the introduction of high frequency or sight words through modelling and sight words games such as flash cards, sentence strips, bingo, word shapes and extensive reading (Fellows & Oakley, 2010, p. 219) ensuring students reach a point of automaticity (Konza, 2016, p. 157), as sight words feature sounds that contradict the rules for learning the 44 phonemes and the point of automaticity allows higher-level comprehension processes to occur due to available cognitive

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).

There is reliable and dependable proof for first-letter access, there is only weak confirmation for syllable access. In both experiments, syllable figures did not contrast across confidence levels and a higher coincidence at confidence levels in the research. (Brown and Burrows, 2013). A Mnemonic is utilized to recollect, and it could be a phrase, a short song, or something easily recalled, and it can assist the individual in finding something that is difficult to remember. For instance, we may use a phrase like PEMDAS, which means, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally". It stands for "Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, and Addition and Subtraction".

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

It is helpful to think of it as the system that you use to mentally rehearse information by repeating it over and over again4. And the Phonological Store (The Inner Ear – but not to be confused with the canals in your actual ear) The phonological store uses a sound based code to store information, but this information decays after about 2 seconds, unless it is rehearsed by the articulatory control system. The phonological store receives its input either directly from the ears or from long term memory. If you imagine your favourite piece of music you are using your phonological store.5 The phonological loop explains why the word length effect occurs – the fact that people cope better with short words than long words in working memory (short-term memory). It would appear that the phonological loop holds the amount of information that you can say within 2 seconds (Baddeley et al, 1975). This makes it hard to remember a list of long words such as ‘anthropomorphic’ and ‘representative’ compared to shorter words like ‘walk’ or ‘again’. The longer can’t be rehearsed on the phonological loop because they don’t fit (into the two second limit). But the word length effect goes away if a person is given an articulatory suppression task, for instance if you are asked to say ‘the the the…’ while reading a group of words. This repetitive task ties up the articulatory process and means you can’t rehearse the shorter words more quickly than the

Our short-term memory is said to require the allocation of cognitive resources (Atkinson & Shiffrin 1968). Peterson & Peterson (1959) conducted the classic study of short-term

Phonology – use of sounds and how sounds are organized and used in natural languages.

Salame and Baddeley (1986) attributed this disappearance of phonologically similarity to the assumption that the strategy of phonological coding is 'abandoned' as a list length is increased. In addition, Baddeley (2007), posits that this abandonment for longer lengths is due to overloading the phonological system. This is consistent with the study by Imbo and Vandierendonck (2007) where results also suggested a list length of more than five letters would overload the phonological system. Furthermore, research suggests when abandonment of phonological coding occurs, executive processes and other strategies such as semantic coding are used instead (Imbo & Vandierendonck, 2007; Larsen et al., 2000). In contrast, Spurgeon et al. (2014) questioned why phonological coding would be abandoned in very short or very long lists yet be used in middle length lists. By using varied length list, Spurgeon et al. (2014) suggested that phonological coding is not abandoned but used throughout however, PSE is sensitive to floor and ceiling effects thus only showed significance in middle length

Burgess and Hitch (1999) added to and tested the original model of the phonological loop. They created multiple lists: one with the combination of short and long words, one with short words, and one with long words. Burgess and Hitch predicted that the short list would have a higher recall rate, while the long list would take longer to memorize. However, the mixed list would take less time to recall but longer time to memorize (Burgess & Hitch,1999).

Research evidence for the working model of memory varies. Case studies of brain damaged patients support this model a lot. The case study of KF - a brain damaged patient with no problem with long term learning but some aspects of his immediate memory were impaired. This has proven that the working model of memory was right when suggesting that short term store works independently of long term store. In addition to evidence supporting this model, Baddeley and Hitch did a research on making participants do two tasks using the same or different components. Task one occupied the central executive, task two either involved the articulatory loop or both the central executive and the articulatory loop. Speed on task one was the same whether using the articulatory loop or no extra task. This shows that doing two tasks that involve the same component causes difficulty. It also suggested that when two different components are used, performance is not affected.

How does the phonological loop operate in normal functioning? What happens with people that have working memory impairment?

Furthermore, segregating words through onsets –rimes patterns, and learning how to blend sounds through phonemic awareness all play a vital role

Another positive is the fact that it can be applied, or rather generalised to real life. For example in job interviews when we talk, or when people text and drive, and it can cause us to crash. Finally another strength of the working memory model is that is provides us an explanation for the brain damaged patients KF and SC. As it shows us logical evidence that there is other stores in memory, rather than the oversimplified view of the multi-store model. However, it does have its weakness, one such weakness is its only address short term memory, not long term memory, and therefore it is not a detailed model of memory, as it doesn 't address long term memory. Another weakness is the circular argument, as it makes it difficult to find fault with the working memory mode. The circular argument is that if two task cannot be done together, then it 's assumed that tis is because both of which are overloading on of the components in the working model. If two tasks can be done together, it 's assumed they are from different components of the working model, meaning the model can explain any results. Finally another weakness is the fact that the working memory model has been conducted in laboratories. Therefore it means that it may not be able to generalise these result into everyday

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

Participants could not correct mistakes in button presses. The experiment included two types of trials: some trials had an irrelevant speech background (a passage from Franz Kafka in German) and some had a quiet background. The order of background conditions Participants completed two blocks. Each block contained 30 trials.