The Working Memory Model

• What is the WMM?

  proposed a multi-component model of STM, initially consisting of:

  The central executive (CE).

  The phonological loop (PL).

  The visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS).

  Episodic buffer (EB)
• What is the function of the central executive?

  This manages attention, and controls/delegates information from the two ‘slave stores’.
• What are the sub stores of the Phonological loop?

  - Phonological store (inner ear)

  - Articulatory process (inner voice)
• What is the function of the articulatory rehearsal process?

  acts like an inner voice rehearsing information from the phonological store. It circulates information round and round like a tape loop. This is how we remember a telephone number we have just heard
• What is the function of the phonological loop?

  holds auditory speech information and the order in which it was heard (or any visually presented language converted by the articulatory process)
• What is the episodic buffer's function?

  Facilitates communication between the central executive and long-term memory.
• what is the visuo spacial sketchpad (VSS)?

  
  

  processes working memory that processes visual information (the visual cache) and spatial information (the inner scribe).
• Logie (1995) suggested the VSS could be further sub-divided into: 


  visual cache and inner scribe
• visual cache


  stores visual material on colour and form
• inner scribe


  which deals with spatial relationships, rehearsal and the transfer of information from the visual cache to the central executive.
• Baddeley and Hitch (1974) developed the Working Memory Model , which focuses specifically on the workings of short-term memory.
• The following observations provided evidence to suggest different, limited-capacity STM stores process different types of memory:

  • If one store is utilised for both tasks, then task performance is poorer than when they are completed separately, due to the store’s limited capacity
  • If the tasks require different stores, performance would be unaffected when performing them simultaneously
• Strengths of Working Memory Model

  • The WMM provides an explanation for parallel processing ( where processes involved in a cognitive task occur at once) unlike the MSM.
  • Shallice and Warrington (1974) reported that brain-damaged patient KF could recall verbal but not visual information immediately after its presentation, which supports the WMM’s claim that separate short-term stores manage phonological and visual memories.
  • Developed based on evidence from laboratory experiments, so confounding variables could be carefully controlled to produce reliable results (that can be replicated).
• Weaknesses of Working Memory Model

  • Despite providing more detail of STM than the multi-store model, the WMM has been criticized for being too simplistic and vague, e.g. it is unclear what the central executive is, or its exact role in attention.
  • Results from laboratory experiments researching the WMM will often have low ecological validity (i.e. may not relate to real life), as tasks such as repeating ‘the the the’ are arguably not representative of our everyday activities.