Working Memory Model

• The Working Memory Model was created by Baddley and Hitch, which focuses on STM and explains how it is organised how it functions.
• The WMM suggested that the STM is not utiniary but instead, is a more flexible system concerned with active processing in multiple stores.
• The central executive monitors incoming data and makes decisions about where and how it's stored. It has limited capacity and therefore, sends data to its slave systems which are the phonological loop and the visuo-spacial sketchpad. It is not limited to how information is coded.
• The Phonological loop deals with auditory information. It has a capacity of 2 seconds, and has two subdivisions; The Phonological Store, which stores words you hear, and the Articulary Process which peforms maintenance rehersal to keep memories in loop.
• The Visuo-spacial sketchpad codes visually and spatial infomation. It has limited capacity of 3-4 objects It has two sub-divisons which is called the visual cache which stores visual data, and the Inner Scribe which codes information visually.
• The Episodic Buffer was added by Baddley in 2000. It acgts as a bridge between the STM and the LTM between everything together in a similar memory, making it a general store. It is modality free.
• The seperation of the Phonological Loop and the Visuo-Spacial Sketchpaf can be seen in a case study of Shallice and Warrington. Both investigatedthe clinical case of KF, who had selective impairments to his short term memory store, which affected his verbal functioning, however,the visual functioning was not affected. This suggests that the Phonological Loop and the Visuo-Spacial sketchpad, exists in seperate process and located in different parts of the brain.
• A stregnth comes from laboratory experiments on the visuo-spatial sketchpad. Baddley showed that participants had more difficulty doing TWO visual tasks, compared to when they had to do a visual and verybal task at the same time. This was because both tasks were visual and were therefore competing for the same slave syste. This means that the slae systems are seperate and process different information.
• A weakness of the WMM is that it has been critised for not fully explaining the function/role of the central executive. Baddley himself has recognised that the CE is the most important, yet least understood component of WMM. Some psychologists even think that the CE may have some slave-systems. This means that the WMM is not the most valid model for fully explaining memory.
• Working memory model believes that the STM - is an active memory store.
• Phonological loop:

  • stores auditory & verbal information
  • and holds the order in which information is presented
• The primary acoustic store of the phonological loop holds information for 1-2 seconds. If needed for an ongoing task, articulatory process rehearses the information from primary acoustic store. This type of rehearsal is called subvocal repetition.
• The Articulatory's process's capacity is limited to the amount of information you can repeat in two seconds. Easier to repeat short words, rather than a long list of words. This is called the word count effect.
• The Visuo-spatial stores visual and spatial information as visual pictures.
• Episodic buffer - multi modular.
• Central executive - directs relative information. Does not have its own storage capacity. Limited attention capacity. Overloads when trying to use multiple stores.
• KF

  • Brain injury in a motorcycle crash
  • STM damaged that he could only retain maximum of one word
  • Retaining photographs - good. Shows there are multiple STM's
  • Long term memory still intact, MSM couldn't explain this, WMM CAN
• Gathercole and Baddeley found that participants worked better when doing one visual and one verbal task, than when they attempted two visual tasks.

  • Meaning there are separate working memory stores for verbal and visual information. Visuo spatial sketchpad & phonological loop.
• Brain imaging studies show that different parts of the brain are active when there are visual and verbal tasks.