WMM

• Baddeley- (1975) pps were asked to perform 2 visual tasks, tracking moving lights at the same time as describing the angles of the letter F. Or a visual and verbal task. It was found that the task performance was much better when the tasks were not using the same processing. This suggests the visuospatial sketchpad and the phonological loop exist as seperate systems and the capacity of the visuospatial sketchpad can be overwhelmed with visual information
• the msm sees memory as a passive store of information, while the working memory model seems more accurate in describing how memory is used as an active processor. Psychologists often now refer to working memory instead of short term memory.
• the central executive has been critiqued by other psychologists as being too vague of a concept without a full explanation of its function and not fully open to testing. Baddeley admits the concept needs development, and the inclusion of the episodic buffer is part of this
• more detailed than the msm of memory
• clinical case studies such as KF= supports the models ideas of separate stores for visual and auditory information. KF, who had impaired short term memory could process visual information but struggled with doing the same for auditory information
• Criticisms- overly simplistic, critics argue that the WMM is too simplistic and does not fully explain complex memory phenomena, such as the storage of massive amounts of information or the role of other senses beyond sight and sound
• KF case study- had selective impairment to his verbal short term memory, caused by a brain injury: however the visual functioning of the STM is not affected. This suggests the phonolohical loop and visuospatial sketchpad sub systems are separate processes located in seperate brain regions.
• KF case study 1970- verbal stm affected, visual stm not affected, providing support for the different aspects of working memory due to his selective impairment to his VSM