Working Memory Model: Baddeley And Hitch

People rely on incoming information and stored information to perform their everyday functions. However, humans have a natural capacity of how much information they can attain. We are unable to store all of our acquired information without different systems that organize our information. Working memory is one of these systems that temporarily holds and manages information for cognitive processing (119). Baddeley’s working memory model is made up of four components that allow for temporary information to be stored (109).

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

Atkinson’s and Shiffrin’s (1968) multi-store model was extremely successful in terms of the amount of research it generated. However, as a result of this research, it became apparent that there were a number of problems with their ideas concerning the characteristics of short-term memory. Building on this research, Baddeley and Hitch (1974) developed an alternative model of short-term memory which they called working memory. Baddeley and Hitch (1974) argued that the picture of short-term memory (STM) provided by the Multi-Store Model is far too simple. According to the Multi-Store Model, STM holds limited amounts of information for short periods of time with relatively little processing. It is

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

to review the concept of working memory. Raven’s Matrices is been based on a correlational analysis of

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

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).

Verbal short term memories encode and represent information in a phonological form in immediate memory. This was highly supported by Baddeley and Hitch’s (1974) working memory model. Baddeley and Hitch introduce the “phonological (articulatory) loop”, a mechanism in the short term memory which helps in the retention of verbal information temporarily. (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974). As these mechanisms are heavily dependent on the phonological systems, they have brought about inefficiencies in memory encoding bringing about various effects which includes phonological similarity effect ( difficulty in recall due to similar sounding words), word length effect (recall to be more difficult with long words than short words), the unattended speech effect

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.

Another positive is the fact that it can be applied, or rather generalised to real life. For example in job interviews when we talk, or when people text and drive, and it can cause us to crash. Finally another strength of the working memory model is that is provides us an explanation for the brain damaged patients KF and SC. As it shows us logical evidence that there is other stores in memory, rather than the oversimplified view of the multi-store model. However, it does have its weakness, one such weakness is its only address short term memory, not long term memory, and therefore it is not a detailed model of memory, as it doesn 't address long term memory. Another weakness is the circular argument, as it makes it difficult to find fault with the working memory mode. The circular argument is that if two task cannot be done together, then it 's assumed that tis is because both of which are overloading on of the components in the working model. If two tasks can be done together, it 's assumed they are from different components of the working model, meaning the model can explain any results. Finally another weakness is the fact that the working memory model has been conducted in laboratories. Therefore it means that it may not be able to generalise these result into everyday

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

The term working memory is also known as short term memory. The working memory stores a limited quantity of information that is being processed at that time. The working memory also organizes current mental activities (Matlin, 2013). Its abilities consist of keeping selected memories active and available for varying cognitive tasks (Matlin,

Working memory is the immediate memory for the finite amount of material an individual is processing at the moment. This memory capacity allows an individual to keep information attainable and active in order to use them in various cognitive tasks. Working memory is similar to the outdated term known as short- term memory. According to the working memory approach proposed by Baddeley (1996), this immediate memory is a multipart system consisting of four components known as the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive, and the episodic buffer. The component in question is the central executive, which is responsible for integration of the other components. Is the central executive an essential part of working memory or is it simply a glorified homunculus?

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.