Cognitive Pyschology

Cognitive Psychology

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Topic 1: Short-term and Working Memory

The concept of working memory (WM) has been of great interest the field of cognitive science. The use of the term varies depending on the context; cognitive psychology, animal learning laboratory and artificial intelligence. In cognitive psychology, which is our major focus here, the term refers to a limited capacity system for temporarily storing and manipulating information that supports performance of complex tasks. Studies indicate that short-term memory forms the basis of the multi-component model of WM developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (Baddeley, 2000). The model, typically, acts as a unitary temporary system of storage. The early model consists of three components; phonological loop, central executive, and visuospatial sketchpad. The extended form of the model consists of extra components like visual semantics, Episodic LTM, and Language.

The WM model accounts for neuropsychological evidence, information transfer between the nodes, word-length effect, phonological similarity effect, and the effect of articulatory suppression. However, literature shows that the working of the model has some limitations, which yield several implications for classroom teaching.

The first weakness is attributed to the phonological loop. Though the WM enables students to capture a wide range of data and store complex information, it does not significantly support serial recall. This implies that a student needs to continuously repeat referring to particular information (serialized) to make it “stick.” In addition, the limitation of limited capacity storage implies that students need to have a “back-up store” to support serial recall, and integrate visual and phonological information.

Another limitation has to do with prose recall. Here, students find it difficult to recall a series of unrelated words; a long prose. This...