Working Memory Model

• :) RTS Shallice and Warrington

  > patient KF - recall, in STM, for digits was poor when they were read aloud to him, but better when he could see them

  > supports because it suggests there must be different stores in the STM - one to process visual info (VSS) and one to process auditory info (PL)

  discussion - low population validity
• :) dual task performance - Baddeley

  > ppts had more difficulty when performing two visual tasks at the same time (using a pointer to track a light moving around a screen and imagining the letter F and mentally moving it) then when performing one visual task with a verbal task (saying 'the' repeatedly) - both visual tasks are competing for limited capacity of the same slave system (VSS)

  > when doing a verbal and a visual task, they are delegated to separate slave systems (VSS and PL) - performance is not reduced because there is no competition for capacity

  > increases credibility of WMM
• :( lack of clarity

  > much of the research is conducted on the slave systems - lack of clarity over the role of the central executive

  > it is said to be a single component of attention that delegates to slave systems, but some suggest it may have several components within it

  > casts doubt on the WMM as an explanation of STM