Working Memory Model

• Working memory model


  An improved version of the short-term memory store in the multi-store model
• Working memory model


  • Able to explain how the brain can hold and work on both auditory and visual information in short-term memory
• Differences between short-term memory and working memory model

  Working memory model is an active processor, not just a passive store
• Central executive


  Part of the working memory model that pays attention to information from the senses and controls the other components
• Phonological loop


  Subsystem that processes auditory information like sounds and words, consisting of a phonological store and an articulatory process
• Visuospatial sketchpad


  Subsystem responsible for processing visual and spatial information, consisting of a visual cache and an inner scribe
• Episodic buffer


  Part of the working memory model added to integrate information from different sources
• AQA specification only requires knowledge of coding and capacity for the working memory model, not the detailed features of each store
• Dual task performance


  Central executive can coordinate visual and verbal tasks, but phonological loop is overwhelmed if too much verbal information is processed
• Case study of KF showed selective impairment to verbal short-term memory but not visual short-term memory, suggesting separate processes
• Brain scanning evidence showed more activation in the prefrontal cortex when visual and verbal information was integrated, suggesting the existence of the episodic buffer
• Word length effect demonstrates the capacity of the phonological loop as around 2 seconds of verbal information