The Working memory model

What is the WMM

The working memory model (Baddeley and Hitch 1974) is an explanation of how STM is organised and how it functions

Central executive

• The central executive monitors incoming information , focuses and divides our limited attention and allocates subsystems to tasks

• The Central executive has very limited processing capacity and does not store information

Phonological loop

• the phonological loop (PL) deals with auditory information (codes acoustically)

  -The PL is subdivided into :

• the phonological store- stored the words you hear

• The articulatory store- allows maintenance rehearsal

Visio-spatial sketch pad

• the Visuo-spatial sketch pad (VSS) stores visual and/or spatial information (codes visually)

• It has a limited capacity of about 3 or 4 chunks according to Baddeley

  -Logie 1995 subdivided the VSS into:

• The visual cache- stores visual data

• The inner scribe- records arrangements of objects in the visual field

Episodic buffer

• the episodic buffer(EB) is a temporary store for information

• It integrates the visual, spatial and verbal information that has been processed by other stores whilst also maintaining a sense of time sequencing

• It is also a storage component for the central executive and has a limited capacity of about 4 chunks

• The EB links memory to LTM and wider cognitive processes such as perception

Evaluation

• one strength is that there is clinical evidence and support from the case study of KF . after his brain injury, KF had poor STM ability for auditory information but could process visual information normally . His phonological loop was damaged but his visuo-spatial sketch pad was intact

• One limitation is that that’s there is a lack of clarity over the nature of the central executive. The CE needs to be more clearly explained than just being simply ‘attention’. For example , some psychologists believe the CE may consist of separate sub components