Describe and evaluate the working memory model (16 marks).
Baddeley and Hitch designed the working memory model, which is a model of the short-term
memory, and it explains how the short-term memory is organised and how it functions. The working
memory model is concerned with the part of the mind that is active when working on a certain
activity. The working memory model consists of 4 different components.
One of these components is the central executive. The central executive is an attentional process
which monitors incoming data and allocates slave systems. It has a limited capacity and has no
storage memory. Baddeley investigated selective attention to gather evidence for the central
executive. This was done by participants generating a string of 6-digit random numbers alongside
another task. The generated digit string became less random when participants had to switch from
alphabet to numbers at the same time. From this Baddeley concluded that both the random number
generation and the alternation task were competing for the same central executive resources.
Therefore, it provides evidence for their being a central executive within the short-term memory.
However, one limitation of the central executive is that it lacks clarity and it doesn’t really explain
anything. The central executive should be more specified than just attention. Some psychologists
believe that the central executive needs to be split into separate components, therefore this means
that the working memory model hasn’t been fully explained. Another strength of the central
executive is evidence from studies on brain scans. This was done through participants doing
activities which involved the central executive. The brain scans showed that activity increased when
the task became harder. This shows that as demands of the central executive increases it has to
work harder to fulfil its function.
Another component is the phonological loop which stored auditory information and holds the order
in which the information arrives. The phonological loop is subdivided into the phonological store
(which stores words that you hear), and the articulatory process (which allows maintenance
rehearsal to occur). Baddeley found that people have more difficulty remembering a list of long
words than short words, this is known as the word length. This is due to there been a limited space
for rehearsal in the articulatory process of about 2 seconds. However, word length effect disappears
if a person is given a repetitive task that uses the articulatory process, demonstrating how it works.
Another strength of the working memory model is the case study of KF. KF suffered brain damage to
his occipital lobe due to a motorcycle accident. KF had a poor ability to process verbal information
but he could process visual information normally. This suggests that his phonological loop had been
damaged, but other areas of the memory were still intact. Therefore, this supports the idea of there
been separate visual and acoustic stores. On the other hand, evidence from brain damaged patients
may be unreliable as some cover unique cases of patients who have had traumatic experience.
A different memory store is the visuo-spatial sketchpad, which stores visual and spatial information
when required. The visuo-spatial sketchpad was later subdivided by logic into the visual cache
(which stores visual data) and the inner scribe (which records the arrangement of objects in a visual
field). A strength of the visuo-spatial sketchpad is that it is supported by dual task performance
studies. Baddeley et al found that participants had more difficulty doing two visual tasks than doing a
visual and verbal task at the same time. Participants found it difficult because both visual tasks
compete for the same resources in the visuo-spatial sketchpad, but when the participants did a
verbal and visual task simultaneously there will be no competition for the resources in the visuo-
spatial sketchpad. Therefore, this shows that dual-task performance provides evidence for there
being a visuo-spatial sketchpad is that it implies that all spatial information is first visual and
Lieberman argued that blind people have excellent spatial awareness.
The final component of the working memory model is the episodic buffer, which was added to the
model later. The episodic buffer is a temporary store for information and it integrates visual, spatial
and verbal information from other stores. It also maintains the time sequence and records events
that are happening. A limitation of the episodic buffer is that the researchers don’t have a detailed
understanding of how the episodic buffer contains information from the other components. It also
Baddeley and Hitch designed the working memory model, which is a model of the short-term
memory, and it explains how the short-term memory is organised and how it functions. The working
memory model is concerned with the part of the mind that is active when working on a certain
activity. The working memory model consists of 4 different components.
One of these components is the central executive. The central executive is an attentional process
which monitors incoming data and allocates slave systems. It has a limited capacity and has no
storage memory. Baddeley investigated selective attention to gather evidence for the central
executive. This was done by participants generating a string of 6-digit random numbers alongside
another task. The generated digit string became less random when participants had to switch from
alphabet to numbers at the same time. From this Baddeley concluded that both the random number
generation and the alternation task were competing for the same central executive resources.
Therefore, it provides evidence for their being a central executive within the short-term memory.
However, one limitation of the central executive is that it lacks clarity and it doesn’t really explain
anything. The central executive should be more specified than just attention. Some psychologists
believe that the central executive needs to be split into separate components, therefore this means
that the working memory model hasn’t been fully explained. Another strength of the central
executive is evidence from studies on brain scans. This was done through participants doing
activities which involved the central executive. The brain scans showed that activity increased when
the task became harder. This shows that as demands of the central executive increases it has to
work harder to fulfil its function.
Another component is the phonological loop which stored auditory information and holds the order
in which the information arrives. The phonological loop is subdivided into the phonological store
(which stores words that you hear), and the articulatory process (which allows maintenance
rehearsal to occur). Baddeley found that people have more difficulty remembering a list of long
words than short words, this is known as the word length. This is due to there been a limited space
for rehearsal in the articulatory process of about 2 seconds. However, word length effect disappears
if a person is given a repetitive task that uses the articulatory process, demonstrating how it works.
Another strength of the working memory model is the case study of KF. KF suffered brain damage to
his occipital lobe due to a motorcycle accident. KF had a poor ability to process verbal information
but he could process visual information normally. This suggests that his phonological loop had been
damaged, but other areas of the memory were still intact. Therefore, this supports the idea of there
been separate visual and acoustic stores. On the other hand, evidence from brain damaged patients
may be unreliable as some cover unique cases of patients who have had traumatic experience.
A different memory store is the visuo-spatial sketchpad, which stores visual and spatial information
when required. The visuo-spatial sketchpad was later subdivided by logic into the visual cache
(which stores visual data) and the inner scribe (which records the arrangement of objects in a visual
field). A strength of the visuo-spatial sketchpad is that it is supported by dual task performance
studies. Baddeley et al found that participants had more difficulty doing two visual tasks than doing a
visual and verbal task at the same time. Participants found it difficult because both visual tasks
compete for the same resources in the visuo-spatial sketchpad, but when the participants did a
verbal and visual task simultaneously there will be no competition for the resources in the visuo-
spatial sketchpad. Therefore, this shows that dual-task performance provides evidence for there
being a visuo-spatial sketchpad is that it implies that all spatial information is first visual and
Lieberman argued that blind people have excellent spatial awareness.
The final component of the working memory model is the episodic buffer, which was added to the
model later. The episodic buffer is a temporary store for information and it integrates visual, spatial
and verbal information from other stores. It also maintains the time sequence and records events
that are happening. A limitation of the episodic buffer is that the researchers don’t have a detailed
understanding of how the episodic buffer contains information from the other components. It also
