the working memory model.

• who was the working memory model established by and when?

  Baddeley and Hitch, 1974 and later.
• what did Baddeley and Hitch believe the short term memory store in the multi store model was?

  They thought it was too simplistic. They thought the short term memory was not a single unit or a passive store, but was several active processes that manipulate information.
• is long term memory part of the working memory model?

  no, long term memory is outside the working memory model but information is drawn up into the working memory from the long term memory where it is remembered and can be manipulated and used.
• what are the four main parts of the working memory model?

  central executive, episodic buffer, visuo-spatial sketchpad and phonological loop.
• what is the phonological loop divided into?

  phonological store and articulatory control.
• what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad divided into?


  visual cache and inner scribe.
• what does the central executive do?

  controls attention and coordinates actions of the other (slave) components. It is therefore considered the most important part of the model. It does not store data, but allocates one of the slave systems to a task.
• what does the central executive process?

  it processes information from the sense and long term memory.
• what is the capacity of the central executive?

  it has a limited capacity, it can process a limited number of things at the same time.
• the central executive is 'modality free', what does this mean?


  it can process information in any sense form.
• what information is the phonological loop for?

  sound information
• what is the phonological store used for?

  this is the inner ear, it holds words that have been heard. It uses a sound based code to store the heard information, but this information decays unless it is rehearsed by the articulatory control system.
• what is the articulatory control system used for?


  This is the inner voice, rehearses information and has a time based capacity of 2 seconds (it can hold information that takes up to 2 seconds to say to yourself) It is when you mentally rehearse information by repeating it over and over again (maintenance rehearsal.)
• What information is the visuo-spatial sketchpad for?

  visual information
• what is the visual cache used for?

  stores information such as form and colour.
• what is the inner scribe used for?

  deals with spatial relations and stores information about where items are in the visual field.
• who added the episodic buffer to the working memory model and when?

  Baddeley in 2000.
• what is the episodic buffer used for?

  this temporarily stores information and 'knits it' together to provide a holistic (whole/complete) view of experience.

  It has the purpose of binding together all information from other components of working memory with information about time and order and prepares memory for storage in Long term memory.
• What is the capacity of the episodic buffer?

  Baddeley in 2012 said it has a limited capacity of about 4 chunks.
• what does the episodic buffer form a bridge between?

  the episodic buffer forms a bridge between the working memory and long term memory.
• what are the two conditions of dual task performance tests?

  doing tasks using different slave systems, doing two tasks using the same slave system. people usually do better in condition one, as the tasks won't be competing for the limited resources.
• one strength of the working memory model is that is seems plausible because it fits with everyday experience. What research shows this?

  Baddeley 1997 - mentally counting the number of windows in your house demonstrates the operations of the working memory model.
• one strength of the working memory model is clinical case study support. What shows this?

  Shallice and Warrington published their case study of KF. He could remember information better when read to himself than when he was read to. This supports that there is the separation of the phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad.
• One strength of the working memory model is research evidence for the phonological loop having a limited capacity. What shows this?

  Baddeley in 1975 found participants memory span for visually represented one-syllable words was greater than for polysyllabic words. Suggests the articulatory loop is only able to hold a limited number of chunks.
• One major limitation of the working memory model is the functions of the central executive are vague and difficult to test. What shows this?

  Baddeley claims the central executive has a limited capacity, but how this can be measured independently of the other components is unclear. Baddeley also claims the central executive can be divided into subsystems but this has not yet been identified.