The working memory model:

• What is the working memory model(WMM)?

  A representation of short-term memory(STM). It suggests that STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using subunits co-ordinated by a central decision-making system.
• The working memory model- Baddeley and Hitch:

  • Research suggests STM has subdivisions
  • WMM is concerned with the part of the mind that is active when we are temporarily storing and manipulating information
  • For example: read a sentence- data is temporarily put in a store. we read a sentence, store it in passive store while reading the next sentence
• What is the central executive?

  • Control mechanism with a supervisory role to monitor incoming data
  • Inhibits irrelevant data, makes decisions and allocate slave system tasks, switches attention
  • Co-ordinates the activities of the three subsystems in the memory.
  • Very limited storage, capacity and duration
• What is the phonological loop?

  • Processes auditory information (acoustic- verbal, speech based) and preserves the order in which the information arrives
  • Subdivided into:

  1. Phonological store: passive store, holds words you hear
  2. articulatory control system: active processor, allows maintenance rehearsal (repeating sounds or words in a 'loop' to keep them until they are needed- e.g. stores information while reading the next sentence.

  • Capacity is believed to be two seconds worth of what you say
• What is the Visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS)?

  The component of the WMM that processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called our 'inner eye'.
• More on the Visuo-spatial sketchpad:

  • Stores visual and spatial information when required. Colour, position, texture, what something looks like
  • Logie subdivided VSS:

  1. Visual cache- passive store, which stores visual data
  2. Inner scribe- active processor, records the arrangement of objects in a field

  • Limited capacity (Baddeley 3 or 4 objects)
• What is the episodic buffer?

  The component of the WMM that brings together material from the other subsystems into a single memory rather than separate strands. It also provides a bridge between working memory and long-term memory.
• More on the episodic buffer:

  • temporary store for information
  • integrates visual, spatial, and verbal information from other stores.
  • Maintains sense of time sequences- recording events (episodes) that are happening. Time stamps.
  • Added in 2000 by Baddeley
  • Links working memory to LTM and wider cognitive processes such as perception
• When was the WMM created?

  It was created by Baddeley and Hitch in 1974.
• Evaluation (strength)- clinical evidence

  P- One strength of the model is support from clinical evidence

  E- Shallice and Warrington reported on KF who had a brain injury

  E- KF's STM for auditory information was poor (damaged PL) but he could process visual information normally (intact VSS)

  L- This supports the view that there are separate visual and acoustic memory stores
• Evaluation- Counterpoint:

  • KF may have had other impairments which explained poor memory performance, apart from damage to his PL
  • This challenges evidence from clinical studies of brain injury
• Evaluation (strength)- Dual Task Performance

  P- Dual task performance studies support the existence of the VSS

  E- Baddeley et al found ppts found it harder to carry out two visual tasks (e.g. reading, writing, drawing, computer working) at the same time than to do a verbal (recalling a number) and visual task together

  E- This is because both visual tasks compete for the same subsytem (VSS). There is no competition with a verbal and a visual task.

  L- Therefore, there must be a separate subsystem that processes visual input (VSS) and also a separate system for verbal processes (PL)
• Evaluation (Limitation)- Lack of clarity over central executive

  P- One limitation is lack of clarity over the role of the CE

  E- Baddeley said the CE was the most important but least understood component of the WMM

  E- There must be more to the CE than just 'attention' e.g. it is made up of separate subcomponents

  L- Therefore the CE is an unsatisfactory component, and this challenges the integrity of the model
• Evaluation (limitation)- Validity

  P- Research evidence challenges the validity of the model

  E- Dual- task studies support the WMM because they show that there must be separate components processing visual (VSS) and verbal information (PL)

  E- However, these studies are highly controlled and use tasks that are unlike everyday working memory tasks

  L- This challenges the validity of the model because it is not certain that working memory operates this way in everyday situations