The document summarizes Baddeley and Hitch's working memory model (WMM), which proposes that short-term memory consists of multiple active storage components. The model includes a central executive that oversees the phonological loop for auditory information, visuospatial sketchpad for visual and spatial information, and an episodic buffer that integrates information. Each component has limited capacity to store different types of coded information simultaneously. The WMM was an improvement over the multi-store model and helped explain findings from dual task experiments and case studies of brain-damaged patients. However, the central executive remains not fully understood.

1. Memory
Specification:
• The working memory model: central executive,
phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad and
episodic buffer. Features of the model: coding and
capacity.

2. Memory: working memory model
(WMM)
• Baddeley & Hitch (1974)
• Thought the multi-store model was right but
STM was more complex.
• They did not think STM was:
• A single temporary store.
• A simple store for transferring information to
LTM.

3. Memory: working memory model
(WMM)
• They argued that STM was an ‘active store’ that
stored different types of information while they
were being worked on.
• STM can be thought of as consciousness: it holds
information that is consciously thought about
now.
• To replace the STM store of the MSM they
proposed a multi-component working memory.

5. Working memory model: WMM
• WMM sees short-term memory as an active
store holding several different types of
information at the same time.
• Central executive: the part of WMM that
oversees and co-ordinates the other
components of working memory.

6. Central executive: coding & capacity
• The central executive has limited capacity.
• The central executive can store any type of
information.
• It is modality free.

7. Phonological loop: coding & capacity
• Phonological loop: the part of WMM that deals
with auditory information.
• The phonological loop stores information in an
acoustic code.
• It has limited capacity.

8. Visuo-spatial sketchpad: coding &
capacity
• Visuo-spatial sketchpad: the part of WMM that
deals with visual information and spatial
information.
• It has limited capacity.

10. Working memory model: WMM
• Baddeley & Hitch added one more component to the
WMM in 2000.
• They called this the episodic buffer.
• This is the part of the WMM that acts as a temporary
store of integrated information from the central
executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad
and LTM.

11. Episodic buffer: coding & capacity
• The episodic buffer can store any
type of information: acoustic,
visual, spatial.
• It has a limited capacity.

14. Working memory model: WMM
• Complete the working memory
model description worksheet.

15. Evaluation: strengths
• Dual task performance studies.
• Baddeley (1975)

16. Evaluation: strengths
• Case studies of brain damaged
people.
• K.F.
• Shallice & Warrington (1970)

17. Evaluation: limitations
• The central executive.
• Very little is known about it.
• We don’t really know how much
information it can store.
• We don’t know exactly how it works.