WMM

Baddeley & Hitch in 1974 and then updated in 2000

an explanation of the STM, consisting of 4 main components - a central control system assisted by three sub-systems.
- visuo-spatial sketchpad
- episodic buffer
- phonological loop

has a 'supervisory' role
focuses + divides attention: monitors incoming data, makes decisions and allocates the subsystems to tasks
very limited processing capacity and does not store information

it processes auditory information
encoding is acoustic + it preserves the order in which info arrives
it is divided into the articulatory process (allows maintenance rehearsal, capacity of 2 secs worth of what you can say) and the phonological store (stores auditory information)

can temporarily store visual / or spatial information when required
limited capacity of about 3-4 objects
2 components:
- visual cache (stores visual data)
- inner scribe (allows rehearsal, records arrangement of objects)

added to the model in 2000
it is a temporary store that integrates the acoustic, visual + spatial info processed by other sub-systems
maintains a sense of time sequencing
limited capacity of approx 4 chunks
combines info from other subsystems with LTM + links to wider cognitive processes such as perception

WMM can explain individual differences such as reading comprehension + intelligence
people with greater working memory capacity are also better at mental arithmetic, spelling, note-taking + giving directions. Also scoring higher on intelligence tests (Baddeley 2003)

Baddeley (1975) provides supporting evidence for WMM with his dual-task experiment
Baddeley found that, when ppts performed a visual + verbal task together, performance was no different than when the tasks were carried out separately
However when ppts performed 2 visual tasks together performance declined significantly
This is because both visual tasks compete for the same subsystem (VSS) whereas, when doing a visual + verbal task together there is no competition
This supports the WMM as it shows that there must be separate subsystems for visual and verbal input.

A criticism of WMM is that 'The central executive is the most important but least understood component' (Baddeley 2003)
The central executive needs to be more clearly specified than just being simply 'attention'
some researchers such as Baddeley believe it to consist of separate components (for example conscious + unconscious processing)
This means that WMM is an incomplete theory and therefore cannot fully explain the memory process meaning it needs further development

WMM can be applied to understanding more of amnesia
the case study of KF had poor STM for auditory information but could process visual information relatively normally.
For example his recall of reading words (visual) was much better than his recall of hearing them (sound)
This shows thatv KF's phonological loop had been damaged but his visuo-spatial sketchpad was intact
This means that amnesia is not necessarily a disorder that affects all of memory functioning and its nature can be explained by the WMM.

One weakness is that working memory model only looks at STM, whereas the multi-store model looks at both including the sensory register, making it more comprehensive.
This is weakness because we can’t analyse and fully understand memory if we don’t' acknowledge LTM. Therefore It is too simplistic as it looks at only one part of memory.

-brief outline
-CE / criticisms
-VSS / supporting study / too controlled
-EB / different theory / individual differences
-PL / application / how good is research