The working memory model (WMM)

Question 1

Who proposed the working memory model?

Answer 1

Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch developed the working memory model in 1974.

Question 2

Why did Baddeley and Hitch initially propose the working memory model?

Answer 2

Baddeley and Hitch proposed the WMM in response to criticisms which arose from the MSM. One of the limitations of the multi-store model is the fact that the stores were described as single units. Research has however revealed that long-term memory can be sub-divided and short-term memory has qualitatively different subdivisions. Baddeley and Hitch therefore developed a model of STM to account for this research.

Question 3

What is the working-memory model?

Answer 3

The WMM is a representation of short-term memory. It suggests that STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using sub-units coordinated by a central decision-making system. The WMM is concerned with the part of the mind that is active when we are temporarily storing and manipulating information (e.g. comprehending language).

Question 4

How many components does the WMM consist of?

Answer 4

The model consists of four main components, each of which is qualitatively different, especially in terms of capacity and coding.

Question 5

Which four components make up the multi-store model of memory?

Answer 5

1. Central executive
2. Phonological loop (slave system)
3. Visuo-spatial sketchpad (slave system)
4. Episodic buffer (slave system)

Question 6

What is the central executive?

Answer 6

The central executive is an attentional process that monitors incoming data, makes decisions and allocates slave systems to tasks.

Question 7

Does the central executive have a large or a small capacity?

Answer 7

The central executive has a very limited processing capacity.

Question 8

What is the function of the phonological loop?

Answer 8

The phonological loop processes auditory information , which includes both written and spoken material. This store preserves the order in which the information arrives.

Question 9

The phonological loop is subdivided into two separate stores. Name these two stores.

Answer 9

1. The phonological store

2. The articulatory process

Question 10

What is the phonological store responsible for?

Answer 10

The phonological store is responsible for storing the words you hear.

Question 11

What is the articulatory process responsible for?

Answer 11

The articulatory process allows maintenance rehearsal (repeating sounds or words in a ‘loop’ to keep them in working memory while they are needed).

Question 12

What is the capacity of the phonological loop?

Answer 12

The capacity of the phonological loop is believed to be 2 seconds worth of what you can say.

Question 13

What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad responsible for?

Answer 13

The VSS stores visual and spatial information when required. For example, if you are asked to work out how many windows there are on your house you visualise it.

Question 14

What is the capacity of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 14

The visuo-spatial sketchpad has a limited capacity, which according to Baddeley is about three or four objects.

Question 15

Who subdivided the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 15

In 1995, Logie subdivided the VSS into two components:

1. The visual cache
2. The inner scribe

Question 16

What is the visual cache responsible for?

Answer 16

The visual cache is responsible for storing visual data.

Question 17

What is the inner scribe responsible for?

Answer 17

The inner scribe is responsible for recording the arrangement of objects in the visual field.

Question 18

The episodic buffer was later added to the multi-store model as a third slave system. When was this introduced to the model?

Answer 18

Baddeley added the episodic buffer to the model in 2000.

Question 19

What is the episodic buffer?

Answer 19

The episodic buffer is a temporary store for information, integrating the visual, spatial and verbal information processed by other stores and maintaining a sense of time sequencing.

Question 20

What is the capacity of the episodic buffer?

Answer 20

The episodic buffer has a limited capacity of about four chunks.

Question 21

The episodic buffer provides a bridge between working memory and long-term memory. Explain how.

Answer 21

The episodic buffer links working memory to long term memory and wider cognitive processes such as perception.