Working memory model

• who made the working memory model?

  Baddeley and hitch
• what is the working memory model?

  The WMM describes short term memory as an active store used to hold information which is being manipulated. Suggests memory is not a linear path, but a complex and flexible system comprised of several interacting components
• What are the 4 components of the working memory model?

  Central executive

  Phonological loop

  Visuo-spatial sketchpad

  Episodic buffer
• What is the central executive?


  main controller. Information enters CE. Its role is to direct attention and allocate information to one of the slave systems. It has a limited capacity
• what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?


  one of the slave systems, which is a temporary cache with limited capacity (3-4 items). It holds visual and spatial information.
• what is the phonological loop and what 2 sub components is it comprised of?

  Stores information that is auditory.

  1. phonological store
  2. articulatory loop/store
• what is the phonological store?

  the inner ear, stores words you hear for between 1-2 seconds

  Storage and manipulation of external sound input
• what is the articulatory process/store?

  the inner voice, rehearses sounds/words in a loop to keep them in store for as long as necessary. It is believed that the loop can hold information for a 2 seconds worth of what you're able to say
• what is the episodic buffer?


  The final slave system. Temporary store for information, integrating the visual, spatial, and verbal information and recording events that are happening. Links working memory to LTM
• How does the case study of KF (shallice and Warrington) show support for slave systems working independently?


  KF suffered brain damage after motorcycle accident, resulted in impairment of his STM. He could recall visual information perfectly, such as faces, but couldn't recall information linked to sound. This suggests his visuo-spatial sketchpad was still intact whilst his phonological loop was damaged=supports existence of 2 separate stores
• baddeley's research support for slave systems being able to work independently to one another and that capacity of each component is limited


  Conducted dual-performance test: participants asked to complete 2 visual tasks (tracking light and describing angles/patterns of letter F) or visual and verbal task at same time.

  Those who completed task using both slave systems performed better than those who were asked to complete 2 tasks involving 1 slave system. Shows how overloading of visuo-spatial sketchpad leads to forgetting
• how have PET scans provided research for WMM, giving it wider academic credibility?


  Has shown that different parts of the brain are activated when doing different tasks: left hemisphere, Broca's and Wernicke's areas are responsible for acoustic processing, and right hemisphere and back of the brain is responsible for visual information
• what is the advantage of using case studies like KF?

  Provides a rich level of detail about KF and his memory ability
• what is the disadvantage of using case studies like KF?

  Cases like KF is a brain damaged patient whose condition was unique and may not be consistent with other impairments such as degenerative disease or amnesia. Findings of KF cannot be generalised to everyone, meaning research lacks population validity = may not be strong support for the WMM
• what is a major concern regarding the WMM?

  Lack of empirical evidence for the existence of the central executive, its role and the way it actually works is considered to be vague. Only mentions attention and doesn't fully explain how it allocates and directs attention. CE is a vital component of the WMM so this is a major weakness of this model