WORKING MEMORY MODEL

 Badeley and Hitch’s working memory model replaced the idea that the short term memory is a unitary memory store
 Believes the short term memory store is more active and complex

AO1:
The central executive (CE): The phonological loop (PL):
 The most important component – the master component  Codes information acoustically and has two parts

 Involves higher mental processes such as decision making Primary acoustic store (PAS)
 Also known as the ‘inner ear’
 Pays attention to incoming information and directs the information to  Stores acoustically coded information for a limited duration (1-2 seconds)
other ‘slave’ systems for further processing
Articulatory process (AP)
 Works modality free  Also known as the ‘inner voice’
 Deals with speech production and acts as a verbal rehearsal loop when
 There is a limited capacity and can process information from the senses preparing to speak
 Allows sub vocal rehearsal of things stored in the phonological store
 Limited capacity of 2 seconds
The visuo spatial sketchpad (VSSP): The episodic buffer:
 Known as the ‘inner eye’  Baddeley added the episodic buffer after observing that some amnesiac
 There is a limited capacity of 3-4 objects patients who could not form long term memories could recall
complicated stories
Visual cache
 Passively stores visual information  The store integrates and holds information, both visual and acoustic
information from other components
Inner scribe
 Processes spatial and movement information  Has a limited capacity of four chunks of information

 Research support from
dual tasks
P There is research to
support the idea that the
STM consists of individual
separate stores each with
their own limited capacity
E For example, Baddeley
and Hitch found that
participants could do two
different tasks that used
two different stores (i.e.
visual and verbal). They
found that when
participants were asked
to complete a verbal task
in the articulatory loop
and a separate task in the
central executive, recall
was not affected.
However, when the same
participants were asked
to complete two similar
tasks (i.e. both in the
articulatory loop) then
recall on the first task was
affected
E This demonstrates that
the short term memory
consists of multiple
separate stores and that
each has a limited
capacity
L Therefore, supporting the
WMM’s view that STM
consists of multiple stores
with limited capacities
 Supporting research
from brain studies
P There is research to
support the roles and
existence of the
phonological loop and the
visual-spatial sketch pad
(VSSP)
E Cohen et al. found brain
activity was higher in the
Broca’s area (responsible
for speech production)
when participants were
completing a verbal task.
Additionally, regions of
the occipital lobe
(responsible for visual
processing) were
activated when
participants completed a
visual task
E This research provides
some physical evidence
for the existence of the
phonological loop and
VSSP. Additionally, it
supports the role of the
phonological loops in
auditory and speech
based tasks as well as the
VSSP’s role in visual tasks
L Therefore, this suggests
that the assumptions
made by the WMM were
correct, increasing the
validity of the WMM
AO2/AO3:
ー The central executive is
oversimplified
P A weakness of the notion
of the central executive
(CE) is that it is
oversimplified and not
very well understood
E There is not enough
detail about how the
central executive actually
controls the entire WWM
or how it works modality
free
E The central executive is
the master component in
the working memory
model. Yet, there isn’t
sufficient detail to explain
how the central executive
actually carries out these
processes. This could be
because the central
executive isn’t very well
understood
L Therefore, the central
executive has been
oversimplified and not
very well explained. Thus,
reducing the validity of
the WMM
ー Refuting evidence from
the case of EVR
P There is research to
criticise the unitary view
of the CE as suggested by
the WMM
E For example, the case
study of EVR where EVR
had a tumour removed.
EVR performed well on
tests requiring reasoning,
which suggested his CE
was intact. However, he
had poor decision making
skills
E The central executive is
involved in higher mental
processes, i.e. reasoning
and decision-making.
Thus, if the CE were a
single unitary store we
would assume that higher
mental processes are
completely normal or
completely damaged.
But, the fact that some
processes of the CE can
remain intact while some
areas show clear damage.
This suggests there are
several components to
the CE and in EVR’s case
only one was damaged
L Therefore, the WMM’s
unitary view of the CE
appears incorrect, which
reduces the validity of the
WMM
ー Doesn’t account for all
types of memory
P Research has criticised
the working memory
model for failing to
account for musical
memory
E Berz found participants
were able to listen to
instrumental music
without impairing
performance on other
acoustic tasks. However,
according to WMM,
listening to instrumental
music should occupy the
PAS’s limited capacity,
making it difficult to carry
out other acoustic tasks
E The participants were
able to carry out the
instrumental task along
with the acoustic task
because there may be a
‘musical memory’
component that dealt
with the instrumental
task. However, the WMM
didn’t account for all
types of memory i.e.
musical
L Therefore, the WMM is
an incomplete model of
memory, which reduces
the validity of the model

NOTE: Only select the relevant AO1s (e.g. 2/3 points) and four evaluation points (AO2/AO3)