Working Memory Gender Differences

Gender differences have been recorded by researches from single neurons in the cell to system level processes (Cahill 2006), and certain scientists proposed that sex hormones influence the development of prefrontal cortex, and this is supposed to be the cause of the differences in working memory performance (Duff & Hampson, 2001). This study further investigated the existence and nature of this gender difference. A sample of 497 Monash University psychology undergraduates (385 females and 112 males; ages 18 – 64) were recruited for this study. Working memory performance was tested with online 'spatial working memory ' test, and 2D:4D finger length ratio was used as an indirect measure of sex hormone levels. The results revealed no sex differences in the working memory performance, but variance in 2D:4D ratio – females had a larger ratio than males. Memory reaction time was negatively correlated with 2D:4D ratio, thus, females had a quicker reaction time.

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

The working memory model theory was introduced by Baddeley and Hitch as an alternative option to the multistore model version of the short term memory. It is much more in depth and detailed than the multistore model version, therefore it is a better option. The working memory model has four components: the central executive which acts as a leader for the other three stores by allocating attention and monitoring the activities of the other components. The phonological loop has two sub-components, the phonological store which stores speech for a very limited duration of time and the articulatory control system which rehearses the speech stored in the phonological store. The visuo-spatial sketchpad which deals with visual and spatial information and retrieves this kind of information from the long term

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.

Nature of working memory is the active and a strong retention of information in a few seconds. It is from short-term memory that helps control that makes the information flexible yet resistant to interference (Cowan, 2014). The nature of working memory may differ in the cognitive skills and abilities in each individuals. A example of nature is :A person who believes in the nature side of things will say that they love science because it is in their genes.

Existing studies have shown that females were more likely than males to correctly remember information, and also to do so slightly faster (Speck, Ernst, Braun et al, 2000). This experiment will further explore this disparity in male and female memory.

Conserving the performance of the working memory capacity is an important factor in several cognitive levels that connects with a multitude of other important cognitive abilities, including

Psychologists determine significant gender differences on personal events women tend to remember more. Specific results indicated that women excelled in verbal memory tasks, such as remembering words, objects, pictures or everyday events, and men outperform women in visuospatial processing (Association for Psychological Science 2008).

Working memory, Baddeley (1986) also known as short term memory is necessary to maintains relevant information required to perform challenging task. Per se, it is thought to be involved in all forms of cognition (Kolata & Kolata, 2009). Understanding working memory is of critical importance to behavioral neuroscience ????. Working memory is controlled both by seat of intelligence- prefrontal cortex, but also hippocampus (Spellman et al., 2015). The working memory is processed by hippocampus which then relays these signals to the prefrontal cortex in brain for executing memory related tasks (Yoon et al., 2016). It is used to actively maintain and manipulate dynamic information needed to carry out assignment involving real time multitasks (Bolo

The working memory model was proposed by Baddeley and Hitch in 1974 as an alternative to Atkinson & Shiffrin’s multi-store model of memory. They argued that the short-term memory was not a passive, temporary store used to transfer information to the long-term memory. Instead, they suggested that it should instead be regarded as an active store which holds information as it is being worked on. It is described by Cohen (1990) as the ‘focus of consciousness’, holding the information that is being thought about currently. The model has four components: the central executive, the phonological loop, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, and the episodic buffer.

Gender is known to be one of many variables, which has been discovered to influence cognitive performance. Cognitive gender differences are defined as average differences in performance between females and males on tests of academic achievement and cognitive abilities (Miller & Halpern, 2014). Additionally, different cognitive tasks are recognised to favour different gender. While males typically outperform females on tasks dealing with mathematical ability, spatial navigation and mental rotation, females tend to outperform males on tasks dealing with verbal production, memory and perceptual speed. Spatial tasks such as mental rotation tasks, however, show the largest sex

There has also been research that shows the when men brains work, they are using only one hemisphere while females tend to connect to both hemispheres when processing information. Geary, a scientist that also studies gender differences in the brain, has studied how women use the cerebral cortex for solving problems while men use an entirely different area, that he believes to the hippocampus, this is interesting because for women, this area of the brain is not even activated, yet both genders are working to figure out the same kind of

Working memory is the ability one has to manipulate and maintain information mentally, while ignoring other irrelevant distractions and interference in the brain. In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of interest in this field. Research in this area is in fact, still a currently active and quickly developing area. Working memory is so essential in every person’s everyday life that one would not be able to function and perform their daily tasks without a sufficient amount of working memory capacity – these are simple things such as figuring a tip, remembering a phone number, a story, or even people’s names. Under the information processing theory, working memory is likened to a computer. In this theory of cognitive development, working memory is analogous to that of a Random Access Memory (RAM) in a computer where data is stored directly, temporarily, and is manipulated by the mind (Lutz, & Huitt, 2003). This brief duration of data operates and lasts approximately from three to twenty seconds. Hence, momentary by design, working memory involves a short-term use of memory and attention. Additionally, the executive processes are often associated and implicated with working memory in complex cognition. It serves to monitor and control thoughts in the mind and it includes skills such as problem solving, inhibition, controlling attention, and representing information (Carpenter, Just, & Reichle, 2000).

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