AO3

• A strength of the WMM is there is strong support from case studies.

  ·       KF suffered brain damage

  ·       = resulted in him having a poor STM ability for auditory information

  ·       BUT a normal processing ability of visual information.

  THEREFORE this provides clear evidence that there are multiple types of STM

  BECAUSE KF’s brain damage was isolated to the phonological loop whereas his VSSP was intact

  MEANING that they must be separate and distinct
• Another limitation of the WMM = the concept of the central executive.

  • This is because critics argue that the component hasn’t been fully explained and is unsatisfactory.
  • This argument has even been acknowledged by Baddeley himself who states:
  • “The CE is the most important but the least understood component of the WMM”

  THEREFORE it is evident that there needs to be more clarification on the CE before the WMM can be fully accepted as an explanation for STM

  BECAUSE there remains much ambiguity over the role of the central executive
• NEVERTHELESS there is some support for the CE.

  ·       Braver et al. used brain scans.

  ·       He gave Ps tasks that involved the CE

  ·       and found greater activity in an area known as the left prefrontal cortex.

  ·       The activity in this area increased as the tasks became harder.

  THEREFORE this supports that the CE is an attentional process that monitors incoming info, makes decisions and allocates slave systems to tasks

  BECAUSE when the tasks got harder, the CE required more resources to fulfill its function.