THE WORKING MEMORY MODEL

THE WORKING MEMORY MODEL IS AN EXPLANATION OF HOW ONE ASPECT OF MEMORY - S - IS ORGANISED AND HOW IT FUNCTIONS.
THE WMM IS CONCERNED WITH THE PART OF THE MD THAT IS ACTIVE WHEN WE ARE TEMPORARILY STORING AN DMANIPULATING INFORMATION, FOR EXAMPLE WHEN WORKING ON AN ARITHMETIC PROBLEM OR PLAYING CHESS OR COMPREHENDING L, ETC.
THE MODEL CONSISTS OF F MAIN COMPONENETS, EACH OF WHICH IS QUALITATIVELY DIFFERENT ESPECIALY IN TERMS OF C AND CODING.

CENTRAL EXECUTIVE - THE CENTRAL EXECUTIVE IS ESSENTIALLY AN ATTENTIONAL PROCESS THAT MONITORS INCOMING D, MAKES DECISIONS AND ALLONCATES SLAVE SYSTEMS TO TASKS. THE CENTRAL EXECUTIVE HAS A VERY LIMITED STORAGE C.

PHONOLOGICAL LOOP - ONE OF THE SE SYSTEMS IS THE PHONOLOGICAL LOOP. IT DEALS WITH AUDITORY INFORMATION (I.E. CODING IS ACOUSTIC) AND PRESERVES THE ORDER IN WHICH THE INFORMATION ARRIVES. THE PL IS SUBDIVIDED INTO:
1. THE P STORE, WHICH STORES THE WORDS YOU HEAR
2. THE A PROCESS, WHICH ALLOWS MAINTENANCE REHEARSAL (REPEATING SOUNDS OR WORDS IN A 'LOOP' TO KEEP THEM IN WORKING M WHILE THEY ARE NEEDED). THE CAPACITY OF THIS 'L' IS BELIEVED TO BE T SECONDS' WORTH OF WHAT YOU CAN SAY.

VISUO-SPATIAL SKETCHPAD - THE SECOND SE SYSTEM IS THE VISUO-SPATIAL SKETCHPAD. THE VSS STORES VISUAL AND/OR SPATICAL INFORMATION WHEN REQUIRED. FOR ECAMPLE, IF YOU ARE ASKED TO WORK OUT HOW MANY WINDOWS THERE ARE ON YOUR HOUSE YOU VISUALISE IT. IT ALSO HAS A LIMITED C, WHICH ACCORDING TO BADDELEY IS ABOUT THREE OR F OBJECTS. LOGIE SUBDIVIDED THE VSS INTO:
1. THE V CACHE, WHICH STORES VISUAL DATA
2. THE INNER S, WHICH RECORDS THE ARRANGEMENT OF OBJECTS IN THE VISUAL FIELD

EPISODIC BUFFER - THE THIRD SLAVE SYSTEM IS THE EPISODIC BUFFER. THIS WAS ADDED TO THE MODEL BY B IN 2000. IT IS A TEMPORARY STORE FOR INFORMATION, INTEGRATING THE VISUAL, SPATIAL, AND INFORMATION PROCESSED BY OTHER SS AND MAINTAINING A SENSE OF TIME SEQUENCING BASICALLY RECORDING EVENTS THAT ARE HAPPENING. IT CAN BE SEEN AS THE STORAGE COMPONENT OF THE C EXECUTIVE AND HAS A LIMITED C OF ABOUT FOUR CHUNKS. THE EPISODIC BUFFER LINKS WORKING M TO LTM AND WIDER COGNITIVE P SUCH AS PERCEPTION

EVALUATION - CLINICAL EVIDENCE - SUPPORT FOR THE WMM COMES FROM S AND WARRINGTON 'S CASE STUDY OF PATIENT KF WHO HAD SUFFERED B DAMAGE. AFTER THIS DAMAGE HAPPENED KF HAD POOR STM ABILITY FOR V INFORMATION BUT COULD PROCESS VISUAL INFORMATION NORMALLY PRESENTED VY, I.E. HE HAD DIFFICULTY WITH SOUNDS BUT COULD RECALL LETTERS AND DIGITS. THIS SUGGESTS THAT JUST HIS PHONOLOGICAL L HAD BEEN DAMAGED LEAVING OTHER AREAS OF M INTACT.
THIS SUPPORTS THE EXISTENCE OF A SEPARATE VISUAL AND A STORE. HOWEVER, EVIDENCE FROM BRAIN-D PATIENTS MAY NOT BE RELIABLE BECAUSE IT CONCERNS UNIQUE CASES WITH PS WHO HAVE HAD TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES

EVALUATION - DUAL TASK PERFORMANCE - STUDIES OF DUAL-TASK PERFORMANCE SUPORT THE S EXISTENCE OF THE VISUO-S SKETCHPAD. BADDELEY ET AL. SHOWED THAT PARTICIPANTS HAD MORE DIFFICULTY DOING TWO V TASKS THAN DONIG BOTH A VISUAL AND VERBAL TASK AT THE SAME TIME. THIS INCREASED DIFFICULTY IS BECAUSE BOTH TASKS COMPETE FOR THE SAME S SYSTEM WHEREAS, WHEN DOING A VERBAL AND VISUAL TASK SIMULTANEOUSLY, THERE IS NOT COMPETITION.
THIS MEANS THERE MUST BE A SEPARATE SLAVE SYSTEM THAT PROCESSES V IMPUT

EVALUATION - LACK OF CLARITY OVER THE C EXECUTIVE - COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGISTS SUGGEST THAT THIS COMPONENT OF THE WMM IS UNSATISFACTORY AND DOESN'T REALLY E ANYTHING. ALAN BADDELEY HIMSELF RECOGNISED THIS WHEN HE SAID: 'THE C EXECUTIVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BUT THE LEAST UNDERSTOOD COMPONENT OF WORKING M'. THE CENTRAL EXECUTIVE NEEDS TO BE MORE CLEARLY SPECIFIED THAN JUST BEING SIMPLY 'A'.FOR EXAMPLE, SOME PSYCHOLOGISTS BELIEVE IT MAY CONSIST OF S COMPONENTS.
THIS MEANS THAT THE WMM HASN'T BEEN FULLY E

EVALUATION - STUDIES OF THE WORD LENGTH EFFECT SUPPORT THE PL LOOP - BADDELEY ET AL. DEMONSTRATED THAT PEOPLE FIND IT MORE DIFFICULT TO REMEMBER A LIST OF L WORDS RATHER THAN SHORT WORDS. THIS IS CALLED THE WORD LENGTH E. THIS IS BECAUSE THERE IS A FINITE SPACE FOR REHEARSAL IN THE A PROCESS . THE WORD LENGTH EFFECT DISAPPEARS IF A PERSON IS GIVEN AN ARTICULATORY SUPPRESSION TASK - THIS IS A REPETITIVE TASK THAT TIES UP THE ARTICULATORY P. FOR EXAMPLE, DOING A TASK WHILE SAYING 'LA LA LA' MEANS THAT YOUR A PROCESS IS KEPT BUSY

EVALUATION - BRAIN SCANNING STUDIES SUPPORT THE W - BRAVER ET AL. GAVE THEIR PARTICIPANTS TASKS THAT INVOLVED THE CENTRAL E WHILE THEY WERE HAVING A BRAIN SCAN. THE RESEARCHERS FOUND GREATER ACTIVITY IN AN AREA KNOWN AS THE LEFT PREF CORTEX. WHAT WAS ESPECIALLY EINTERESTING WAS THAT THE ACTIVITY IN THIS AREA INCREASED AS THE TASK BECAME HARDER. THIS MAKES A LOT OF SE IN TERMS OF THE WMM: AS DEMANDS ON THE CE IE, IT HAS TO WORK HARDER TO FULFIL ITS FUNCTION