Working Memory Model: A representation of STM. It suggests that STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using sub-units (phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad) co-ordinated by a central decision-making system (central executive).

Central Executive: Co-ordinated the activities of the three subsystems in memory. It also allocates processing resources to those activities.

Phonological Loop: Processes info in terms of sound, including both written and spoken material. It’s divided into the phonological store which stores the words you hear, and the articulatory process, which allows maintenance rehearsal with a capacity of two seconds worth of sound.

Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad: Processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called the inner eye. It has a capacity of three or four objects and is subdivided into the visual cache, which stores visual data, and the inner scribe, which records the arrangement of objects in the visual field.

Episodic Buffer: Brings together material from the other subsystems into a single memory rather than separate strands. It also provides a bridge between the working memory and LTM and wider cognitive processes such as perception.

Clinical Evidence: KF had poor STM ability for auditory information but could process visual information normally suggesting his phonological loop was damaged but his visuo-spatial sketchpad was intact.

Dual Task Performance Research: When Baddeley et al’s (1975) had participants carried out a visual and verbal activity at the same time, their performance on both tasks were similar to when they were carried out separately. When both tasks were visual or both verbal, performance on both declined substantially. This is because both tasks compete for the same subsystem.

Lack of External Validity: Studies to support use tasks that are very unlike the tasks we perform in our everyday lives and are also carried out in highly-controlled lab conditions so are unrealistic to everyday life.

Lack of Clarity on Central Executive: Baddeley (2003) recognised that the CE was the most important but least understood component of the WMM and there needs to be more research and focus on its role.