The Working Model of Memory

(The Working Memory Model – Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)

One model of memory is the Working Memory Model (WMM) proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974). This model is a development of the earlier Multi-Store Model and focuses specifically on short-term memory, suggesting it is composed of several subsystems rather than a single store.

The WMM consists of four key components:

• The central executive: a limited-capacity system that directs attention and coordinates the other components. It can switch focus between tasks and is modality-free.
• The phonological loop: handles auditory information. It includes the phonological store (inner ear), which holds sounds, and the articulatory control system (inner voice), which rehearses verbal information.
• The visuospatial sketchpad: processes visual and spatial information, such as mental maps or visual patterns.
• The episodic buffer (added in 2000): integrates information from all stores and links it to long-term memory to create coherent episodes.

One supporting study is Baddeley and Hitch’s (1974) dual-task experiment. Participants were asked to perform two tasks simultaneously: one was a reasoning task, and the other involved remembering digits. When both tasks used different memory components (e.g., verbal and visual), performance was not significantly impaired. However, when both tasks used the same component, performance decreased. This supports the idea that short-term memory is made up of separate systems that can function independently.

The WMM is useful for understanding how we multitask and has been supported by brain imaging studies showing different brain areas activated for visual and verbal tasks. Unlike the MSM, it provides a more detailed and dynamic view of STM and how information is temporarily processed.

• The working memory model can be seen as a development of the multi-store model of memory. What is called short-term memory in the original model is changed to a more sophisticated version in the working memory model. This is an example of how theories and models develop over time as science produces new findings.
• Baddeley and Hitch (1974) were among the first to challenge the view that STM is a single store. Their working memory model suggests that STM is not a single store but rather consists of a number of different stores. They did this through their experiment of the DUAL TASK TECHNIQUE.
• Aim: To establish whether STM and LTM encode information in different ways. He suspected that LTM encoded information semantically, whilst STM encoded it acoustically
• Their Dual Task Technique suggested that there are two different stores for visual and auditory processing, as opposed to just having a sensory memory store. Baddeley and Hitch Suggested that memory should be seen as a MENTAL WORKSPACE, that has a platform that temporarily holds information for use in a cognitive task. Once the task is completed, the information held will disappear to make room for the next round of information.
• In the experiment, they were asked to perform two memory options simultaneously - To listen to a list of words ( The auditory stimulus given) and to memorise a series of geometrical shapes (The visual stimulus given)
• Their logic was that if STM truly was a single store, and not three stores like they theorised (two came first then they added the episodic buffer) then the stimuli would clash and interfere with one another, proving that memory can hold only up to 5-9 units of memory no matter the sense.
• However, through their conduction of different stimuli in the dual task technique, they found that in some cases performing two simultaneous tasks does not interfere with processing memories. For example, drawing did not interfere with memorising an audio of numbers. The explanation for this turned into the WORKING MODEL OF MEMORY