Describe and evaluate the working memory model [16]
The working model of memory is an explanaton as o how shor erm memory is organised, how
informaton is s ored and how i functons. I was proposed by Baddeley and Hi ch when hey saw
ha he MSM was no sufcien enough. I consis s of four main par s.
The frs is he cen ral executie, he ‘boss’, which moni ors incoming informaton and
alloca es/prioritses he informaton o he slaie sys ems. The cen ral executie has a limi ed
capaci y.
A limi aton of he noton of he cen ral executie is ha here is no enough sufcien eiidence o
suppor /unders and i . Some psychologis s belieie i may haie diferen s ores of i s own. This
herefore questons he ialidi y of he model, in partcular he presence of he Cen ral executie and
giiing an incomple e explanaton of he model. Howeier, Brain scanning eiidence from Braier e al
(1997) saw actii y in he lef prefron al cor ex when a ask giien iniolied he cen ral executie, his
area increased when he difcul y increased. Suggestng ha i may be real – ialidi y of his is
increased as brain scanning eiidence as i is scientfc and objectie.
The frs slaie sys em is he phonological loop, in charge of coding of acoustc informaton. The
phonological loop is subdiiided in o he phonological s ore – which s ores he words we hear – and
he artcula ory con rol process – main enance rehearsal of informaton (2 second capaci y). The
informaton can be spoken or writen (writen informaton is conier ed in o an inner ioice).
The nex slaie sys em is he iisuo-spatal ske chpad, in which iisual informaton is coded. I is in
charge of s oring iisual and spatal informaton – e.g. where we are in relaton o objec s and
colours/sizes/shapes. The s ore can hold 3 or 4 objec s. Logie subdiiided i in o he iisual cache
(s orage) and he inner scribe (records he arrangemen of objec s).
A s reng h of he Working Memory model is ha here is supportng eiidence for i s presen aton of
STM as haiing multple s ores. Shallice and Warring on (1970) conduc ed a s udy on KF, a man wi h
amnesia, in which he was asked o recall words he had read o himself and hen words someone had
read o him. They saw him s ruggle wi h he recall of he ierbally presen ed informaton bu was
beter wi h he iisual informaton. Thus sugges s ha his iisuo-spatal ske chpad was in ac and no
his phonological loop. Therefore, proiiding eiidence ha shor erm memory has separa e s ores in
ha he could do iisual asks no ierbal. Howeier, eiidence from amnesia paten s is no readily
generalisable o he wider populaton due o i being unrepresen atie as i comes from unique
cases, hough can be used o deielop hypo heses for heal hy brains.
The eiidence from KF shows ha he model is more ialid han he mult-s ore model of memory. As
he working memory model is a more complex iersion, showing ha here are diferen s ores in
STM wi h lo s of supportng eiidence proiing ha i is correc . Therefore increasing he ialidi y and
reliabili y of he WMM as a represen aton of STM, proiiding a more accura e model.
A s reng h of he iisuo-spatal ske chpad is ha Baddeley has proiided suppor in he form of a dual-
ask s udy. He saw his partcipan s s ruggle when asked o perform 2 iisual asks a he same tmee
here was less of a s ruggle when doing 1 iisual and 1 ierbal ask a he same tme. This increased
difcul y is due o he competton for he same slaie sys em. Therefore, his eiidence shows ha
here mus be separa e s ores in STM – partcularly audi ory and iisual – as here was no
competton and less difcul y when he asks utlised wo diferen forms of coding – diferen
s ores. The experimen is a labora ory experimen , meaning here is high in ernal ialidi y as any
The working model of memory is an explanaton as o how shor erm memory is organised, how
informaton is s ored and how i functons. I was proposed by Baddeley and Hi ch when hey saw
ha he MSM was no sufcien enough. I consis s of four main par s.
The frs is he cen ral executie, he ‘boss’, which moni ors incoming informaton and
alloca es/prioritses he informaton o he slaie sys ems. The cen ral executie has a limi ed
capaci y.
A limi aton of he noton of he cen ral executie is ha here is no enough sufcien eiidence o
suppor /unders and i . Some psychologis s belieie i may haie diferen s ores of i s own. This
herefore questons he ialidi y of he model, in partcular he presence of he Cen ral executie and
giiing an incomple e explanaton of he model. Howeier, Brain scanning eiidence from Braier e al
(1997) saw actii y in he lef prefron al cor ex when a ask giien iniolied he cen ral executie, his
area increased when he difcul y increased. Suggestng ha i may be real – ialidi y of his is
increased as brain scanning eiidence as i is scientfc and objectie.
The frs slaie sys em is he phonological loop, in charge of coding of acoustc informaton. The
phonological loop is subdiiided in o he phonological s ore – which s ores he words we hear – and
he artcula ory con rol process – main enance rehearsal of informaton (2 second capaci y). The
informaton can be spoken or writen (writen informaton is conier ed in o an inner ioice).
The nex slaie sys em is he iisuo-spatal ske chpad, in which iisual informaton is coded. I is in
charge of s oring iisual and spatal informaton – e.g. where we are in relaton o objec s and
colours/sizes/shapes. The s ore can hold 3 or 4 objec s. Logie subdiiided i in o he iisual cache
(s orage) and he inner scribe (records he arrangemen of objec s).
A s reng h of he Working Memory model is ha here is supportng eiidence for i s presen aton of
STM as haiing multple s ores. Shallice and Warring on (1970) conduc ed a s udy on KF, a man wi h
amnesia, in which he was asked o recall words he had read o himself and hen words someone had
read o him. They saw him s ruggle wi h he recall of he ierbally presen ed informaton bu was
beter wi h he iisual informaton. Thus sugges s ha his iisuo-spatal ske chpad was in ac and no
his phonological loop. Therefore, proiiding eiidence ha shor erm memory has separa e s ores in
ha he could do iisual asks no ierbal. Howeier, eiidence from amnesia paten s is no readily
generalisable o he wider populaton due o i being unrepresen atie as i comes from unique
cases, hough can be used o deielop hypo heses for heal hy brains.
The eiidence from KF shows ha he model is more ialid han he mult-s ore model of memory. As
he working memory model is a more complex iersion, showing ha here are diferen s ores in
STM wi h lo s of supportng eiidence proiing ha i is correc . Therefore increasing he ialidi y and
reliabili y of he WMM as a represen aton of STM, proiiding a more accura e model.
A s reng h of he iisuo-spatal ske chpad is ha Baddeley has proiided suppor in he form of a dual-
ask s udy. He saw his partcipan s s ruggle when asked o perform 2 iisual asks a he same tmee
here was less of a s ruggle when doing 1 iisual and 1 ierbal ask a he same tme. This increased
difcul y is due o he competton for he same slaie sys em. Therefore, his eiidence shows ha
here mus be separa e s ores in STM – partcularly audi ory and iisual – as here was no
competton and less difcul y when he asks utlised wo diferen forms of coding – diferen
s ores. The experimen is a labora ory experimen , meaning here is high in ernal ialidi y as any
