Lesson 4.1.2.2

4.1.2.2 Working memory model Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 1

20 questions

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Lesson 4.1.2.2, Working memory model: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Psychology (7182), Unit 1: Introductory topics in Psychology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which component of the working memory model is an attentional control system with limited capacity that coordinates the other components?

    • The central executive
    • The visuo-spatial sketchpad
    • The phonological loop
    • The episodic buffer

  2. What are the two parts of the phonological loop?

    • A central store and a rehearsal buffer, which together hold speech and manage the attention of the system
    • A sensory register and a short-term store, which together hold incoming information for a brief period
    • A visual cache and an inner scribe, which together hold images and the planning of spatial movements
    • A phonological store and an articulatory process that rehearses sounds

  3. Which type of information does the visuo-spatial sketchpad process?

    • Semantic information, such as the meaning of a text
    • Visual and spatial information, such as images and locations
    • Acoustic and verbal information, such as spoken words
    • Sensory information from all senses combined

  4. Which component of the working memory model acts as a link between working memory and long-term memory and combines information into a multimodal episode?

    • The sensory register
    • The visuo-spatial sketchpad
    • The phonological loop
    • The episodic buffer

  5. What is the typical capacity of the phonological loop, measured in terms of speech?

    • About 7 separate digits regardless of length
    • About 20 words regardless of length
    • About 30 seconds of silence
    • About 2 seconds of spoken material

  6. Which set of features describes the central executive?

    • Modality-specific coding of visual images only, with each image stored separately and never linked to others
    • Large capacity, a dedicated store for sounds, and no control role over the other components of the system
    • Limited capacity, no storage of its own, and control over attention to the other components
    • Unlimited capacity, with storage of episodes over time, linking each event to its meaning in long-term memory

  7. Which combination of coding in the working memory model is correct?

    • Phonological loop: visual; visuo-spatial sketchpad: acoustic; episodic buffer: acoustic only
    • Phonological loop: semantic; visuo-spatial sketchpad: acoustic; episodic buffer: visual only
    • Phonological loop: acoustic; visuo-spatial sketchpad: visual and spatial; episodic buffer: multimodal
    • Phonological loop: spatial; visuo-spatial sketchpad: semantic; episodic buffer: none

  8. A participant repeats the word 'the' aloud while trying to memorise a list of words. Which component is most disrupted by this task?

    • The phonological loop, because the articulatory process is occupied
    • The episodic buffer, because the participant is repeating a word
    • The sensory register, because the words are heard
    • The visuo-spatial sketchpad, because the participant is speaking

  9. Which pair of tasks is most likely to interfere with each other when performed at the same time?

    • Recalling a story and remembering a spatial route
    • Repeating words aloud and remembering a visual pattern
    • Holding a visual image and tracing a route through space
    • Repeating a list of words aloud and reciting a sequence of digits

  10. A driver follows spoken directions while mentally tracking the car's position on a map. Which two components are most likely to be in use?

    • The sensory register and long-term memory
    • The sensory register and the episodic buffer
    • The episodic buffer and the articulatory process alone
    • The phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad

  11. In Baddeley's word length effect, why are short words recalled better than long words?

    • Short words are stored in the visuo-spatial sketchpad, which has a higher capacity
    • Long words are processed by the sensory register, which decays faster
    • Short words take less time to rehearse, so more of them fit into the phonological loop
    • Long words are always forgotten because they have no meaning

  12. If the phonological loop holds about 2 seconds of speech and each word takes about 0.5 seconds to say, roughly how many words can it hold?

    • About 1 word
    • About 2 words
    • About 4 words
    • About 8 words

  13. Which description best illustrates the role of the episodic buffer?

    • Filtering out sensory input that is not being attended to, so that only the important information is kept
    • Storing a permanent memory of childhood holidays, with each detail kept in the same form it was first experienced
    • Combining a visual image of a scene with spoken words and a memory of the event into one coherent episode
    • Holding a list of digits for a few seconds through rehearsal, with each digit kept separate from the others

  14. Which evidence provides strong support for separate phonological and visuo-spatial components in working memory?

    • Case studies showing that all patients lose the same memory skills
    • Dual-task studies showing interference between similar tasks but not between different tasks
    • Single-task studies showing that all memory tasks interfere equally with each other
    • Surveys showing that most people prefer visual memory

  15. Which criticism of the working memory model is most often made?

    • The model has no evidence from dual-task studies at all, which means its claims rest only on theory
    • The model describes memory only in non-human animals, so its claims cannot be tested in people
    • The model ignores the phonological loop entirely, so it cannot explain any speech-based memory task
    • The central executive is poorly defined and its functions are hard to test directly

  16. A model predicts that a secondary task will disrupt performance more when it uses the same component. Which result would best support this prediction?

    • Performance is the same whatever tasks are combined
    • Performance on a visual task drops more when a verbal task is added than when a second visual task is added
    • Performance on a visual task drops more when a second visual task is added than when a verbal task is added
    • Performance on verbal tasks is unaffected by any second task

  17. Which is the best evaluation of the working memory model compared with the multi-store model?

    • It explains forgetting better because it allows decay of all memories over time, without any role for interference
    • It shows that short-term memory has unlimited capacity, unlike the multi-store model, which fixes the limit at seven
    • It shows that information never passes into long-term memory, which means all knowledge comes from the sensory register
    • It accounts for several tasks being handled at once, which the single short-term store of the multi-store model does not explain

  18. A patient has damage to the phonological loop but intact visual and spatial memory. Which outcome would be expected?

    • Normal recall of everything because the central executive compensates
    • Impaired recall of spoken digits and pictures equally
    • Difficulty recalling pictures but good recall of spoken digits
    • Difficulty recalling spoken digits and words, but relatively good recall of pictures

  19. Which of these would most likely impair the central executive?

    • Looking at a single picture for a few seconds, which is a simple visual task that places no demands on attention
    • Holding a single list of spoken digits in mind for a short time, which uses only the phonological loop
    • Recalling a familiar song from childhood, which is a long-term task that does not need any working memory
    • Being asked to perform two demanding tasks at the same time

  20. Which feature distinguishes the episodic buffer from the phonological loop?

    • It stores visual images only and cannot be rehearsed
    • It combines information across different modalities and links to long-term memory
    • It has a capacity of seven items and decays over 30 seconds
    • It stores only acoustic information and has a capacity of 2 seconds

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