Central Executive Functioning

The central executive directs the flow of information. It functions more with delegating the way resources are used in cognitive tasks. The central executive also coordinates information from the person’s current environment with retrieval of their prior information (119). The phonological loop is used to carry out rehearsed maintained verbal material. It plays an important role in the acquisition of vocabulary, learning how to read, and comprehending language. The visuospatial sketchpad maintains material through visualization. The visuospatial sketchpad creates and manages our mental images. The episodic buffer is a temporary system that connects information from long term memory to working memory.

Working memory is a part of our executive functions, the functions that are involved with the planning and regulation of one’s behavior. Despite that during the first year of life working memory is developed, working memory can trained and enhanced throughout you life with experience. Julia Morales Castillo, from the Department of Experimental Psychology of the University of

Researchers such as Logie, Baddeley and Bunge generally agree that the short-term memory is made up of a number of components or subsystems. The working memory model has replaced the idea of a unitary store short-term memory as suggested by the multistore model. The working memory model explains a lot more and in a lot more detail than the multistore model. It makes sense a range of tasks- verbal reasoning, comprehension, reading, problem solving and visual and spatial processing, it also applies to real life tasks such as reading which involves the phonological loop subsystem, problem solving which involves the central executive and navigation which involves the visual and spatial subsystem. The Working Memory Model is supported by

The Working Memory Index measures the EE104’s ability to register, maintain, and manipulate visual and auditory information in conscious awareness. Working Memory assists an individual in controlling attention and resisting distractions. This index is composed of the Digit Span and Picture Span subtests. EE104 exhibited a strength on the Picture Span (high average) subtest compared to the Digit Span subtest (low average). This discrepancy may indicate that EE104 can best utilize working memory in problem solving when a visual, rather than a verbal, stimulus is presented. During the administration of the Digit Span subtest, EE104 listened

The participants will be given The Working Memory Test Battery for Children (WMTB-C) devised by Gathercole and Pickering (2001). This test consists of four tasks which include

Cognitive dysfunction is a hallmark feature in neuropsychiatric disorders. Especially, domains including working memory, executive function, attention and information processing are defective.Deficits are observed in multiple domains, including working memory, executive function, attention and information processing. Disability caused by cognitive dysfunction are is frequently as debilitating as the prominent emotional disturbances. Interactions between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex are

The hippocampus collects different bits of information that affect the senses and puts all of it into an event of a memory. In the Working Memory, it quotes, “The hippocampus is where the vast amount of knowledge you have acquired over your lifetime is housed for long-term storage.” Page 6. When the hippocampus collects different information and holds it for use at any time later in life. Said in the Working Memory…, “The PFC is the home of working memory. Located in the front of the brain, the PFC coordinates with other areas of the brain through electrical signals and receives information from those regions so your working memory can make use of it.” Page 6. Partial Frontal lobe is controlled other parts of the brain and sends signals and take in information, so it gets saved in your memory. This is important for long-term memory is used in further or moderately in life. “The amygdala is the brain’s emotional center. When you are experiencing a strong emotion, like fear, your amygdala is activated.” Quoted by the Working Memory…, page

Memory in the human brain is a complex process which is easier understood by the use of theoretical constructs. Memories begin as sensory stimuli which become sensory memory which only last about one second, from there it moves into working memory which lasts for about twenty to thirty seconds and is used to process information. Within working memory there are a few separate processes, the central executive which directs attention, the episodic buffer which is a secondary storage lasting ten to twenty seconds, this area communicates with long term memory as well as the central executive. The visuospatial sketchpad which is used to visualise visual and spacial

Working memory refers to one’s ability to complete immediate tasks through the use of short-term memory and precision to make actively conscious choices. This is especially important in one’s organizational ability, reasoning, and decision-making. Unfortunately, working memory is yet another function of your brain that only gets weaker as you age into your midlife years. If you’ve ever placed a soup can in the wrong cabinet drawer, or put on non-matching socks or shoes, then you know exactly what it feels like.

Baddeley (2001) suggests a working memory system which consists of four components; a modality-free central executive, a phonological loop which holds information in speech based form, a visuo-spatial sketchpad and an episodic buffer which is the temporary storage system that holds and integrates information from the phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad and long-term memory (Eysenck & Keane, 2005).

Research evidence for the working model of memory varies. Case studies of brain damaged patients support this model a lot. The case study of KF - a brain damaged patient with no problem with long term learning but some aspects of his immediate memory were impaired. This has proven that the working model of memory was right when suggesting that short term store works independently of long term store. In addition to evidence supporting this model, Baddeley and Hitch did a research on making participants do two tasks using the same or different components. Task one occupied the central executive, task two either involved the articulatory loop or both the central executive and the articulatory loop. Speed on task one was the same whether using the articulatory loop or no extra task. This shows that doing two tasks that involve the same component causes difficulty. It also suggested that when two different components are used, performance is not affected.

As for the evidence of the working memory system, two British researches, Alan Baddley and Graham Hitch, have proposed a model in how to explain the working memory system. They have suggested that the system contains many different parts, and that the main working part of the system is the central executive. This central part is able to delegate tasks for the low-level “assistants” to handle, since these assistants are not able to actually analyze a situation on their own. The articulatory rehearsal loop is one of the assistances that allows a person to remember, and is the most beneficial in many ways. This assistant allows you to recall information that is previously stated by repetitively stating the information in our head, which is known as subvolcalization, or silent speech. Furthermore, Baddley and Hitch’s model suggest that we are able to see the existence of this working memory through “sound-alike” errors, because our bodies rely on this rehearsal loop or memory to recall information. In a study, there was a control group which was given a normal digit-span test. In the other group, people were asked to perform concurrent articulation when they took the test. Although this concurrent articulation is not difficult, it does affect the use of the articulatory loop and decreases the memory. With that being said, manipulation of a

Tiyana completed a series of performance based tasks (NAB, WAIS-IV) assessing executive function abilities including working memory, inhibition, verbal fluency, nonverbal planning, and shifting. Her performance on these tasks was variable, with scores falling into the average to well below average range.

The prefrontal cortex is the most anterior region of the frontal lobe. It occupies one-third of the cerebral cortex and is key for executive functions such as problem solving, working memory, and emotional control. It is also crucial in decision making and the expression of personality. The prefrontal cortex is imperative for efficient cognitive functioning; damage can result in severe impairment to skills such as emotional regulation, moral behavior, and empathy.

This essay addresses the working memory model which was proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974 in Smith & Kosslyn, 2007) as a response to Atkinson and Shiffrins (1968 in Smith, 2007) multi-store model. According to Baddely and Hitch the multi-store model failed to explain most of the complexities of the human memory and viewed it as being too simplistic. They argued that the short term memory store must have more components rather it being a single inflexible store as suggested previously by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). The working memory model is therefore an enhancement of the multi store model. According to Baddeley and Hitch working memory is a limited- capacity system that stores and processes information.