2. working memory model

who created the WMM?

Baddeley and Hitch

central executive

• controls activity of working memory in the 2 other components

• directs attention to particular tasks- controlling how the brain’s resources are allocated to tasks

• attends and monitors incoming info from senses or LTM and sends it to the subsystems for processing and temporary storage'

• very little capacity- cannot attend to too many things at once

phonological loop

• auditory store- stores speech based sounds for a brief period of time.

• limited capacity

2 compononets of the phonological loop

• phonological store

• articulatory control process

phonological store

stores acoustically coded items for a brief period of time

articulatory control process

allows sub-vocal repetitions of items in phonological store

visuo-spatial sketchpad

• processes and stores mental images in terms of what they look like and their place in the visual field. Used when people perform a spatial task

• stores mental images

• limited capacity

episodic buffer

• added in 2000

• general store that allows both sound and visual info to be brought together

• integrates info from subsystems and allows for a sense of time sequencing

• facilitates communication between CE and LTM

• records episodes and sends info to LTM

• limited capacity

evaluation- supporting research

p- evidence to support limited capacity and separate sub systems- dual-task performance

e- Gathercole and Baddeley- ps worse at 2 visual tasks (tracking moving light with eyes and decribing shape of 3D letter F) than 1 visual and 1 verbal task
e- both visual tasks compete for same sub-system wereas visual and verbal- no competition

l- VSSP and PL= diff sub-systems and VSSP- limited capacity

evaluation- lack of clarity over central executive

p- lack of clarity over the central executive and its specific role

e- Baddeley acknowledged that although the central executive is the most important part of the model, it is the least understood.

e- Eslinger and Demasio reported on case study of EVR, had cerebral tumour removed, had good skills of reasoing (suggests CE intact) but poor decision-making skills (not wholly intact)

L- original concept of CE needs to be more specified, perhaps there are seperate components- too simple

evaluation- comparison to MSM

p- compares favourably to MSM- attempts to explain how memory functions- not just structure

e-led to greater understanding of cognitive dysfunction e.g. ADHD and dyslexia- thought to be linked with impairements in WM

e- research led to methods being developed to help children with ADHD focus on tasks e.g. brief and simple instructions so they don’t forget- limited capacity of PL

l- many tangible benefits- valuable . practical applications of MSM = limited