the Working Memory Model

• the working memory model 


  a representation of STM concerned with the part of the mind that is active when we are temporarily storing and manipulating information
• 4 main components of the WMM

  • central executive
  • phonological loop
  • visuo-spatial sketchpad
  • episodic buffer
• role of the central executive 


  it has a supervisory function and directs attention to the slave systems
• role of the phonological loop 


  the component of the WMM that processes information in terms of sound (both written and spoken material)
• 2 slave components of the phonological loop

  1. articulatory control system ('inner voice')- keeps information in phonological loop through vocal repetition and is linked to sleep
  2. phonological store ('inner ear')- stores words recently heard for a short period of time
• role of the visuo-spatial sketchpad 


  the component of the WMM that processes visual and spatial information in a mental space ('inner eye')
• the 2 slave components of the visuo-spatial sketchpad

  1. inner scribe- handles spatial relationships
  2. visual cache- processes visual information about form and colour of an object
• role of the episodic buffer 


  binds and integrates information from all of the other components and sends information to the LTM
• evidence for the separate components of the WMM: Baddeley et al. (1975)

  • dual-task performance is the ability to perform two tasks at the same time
  • Baddeley et al. used dual-task performance to investigate the existence of the separate components in the WMM
  • ppts were first asked to carry out two visual tasks simultaneously; track a dot of light whilst describing the letter F
  • they were then asked to carry out a visual and a verbal task simultaneously
  • they found that when the ppts were asked to carry out two visual tasks at the same time their performance was worse compared to ppts who had to carry out a visual and verbal task simultaneously
  • this shows that when undertaking two visual tasks they compete for the limited resources of the visuo-spatial sketchpad and provides evidence of its existence