working memory model

• proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) which focuses on short-term memory and was a response to STM being oversiplified in MSM
• Who proposed the WSM, and when?

  Baddeley + Hitch (1974)
• the components of the WMM are:

  • central executive
  • phonological loop
  • visuo-spatial sketchpad
  • episodic buffer
• the central executive controls the WMM, makes the decisions so all info passes through it and gives allocated task to the other three slave systems

  • other components can only communicate via the CE, NOT directly
  • modality free = can process info from any senses
• The phonological loop is responsible for processing auditory information and has two subcomponents: the articulatory process and the phonological store

  • CAPACITY = 2 seconds
  • ENCODES = acoustically
• Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad processes visual/spatial information and has two subcomponents: the visuo cache and the inner scribe

  • CAPACITY = 3/4 objects or blocks
  • ENCODE = visually
• Episodic Buffer - integrates information from different sources into one coherent representation and links new information with existing knowledgemaintains sense of time sequencing and also links to LTM and wider cognitive process [e.g perception]

  • modality free
  • CAPACITY = 4 chunks