Baddeley And Hitch Analysis

Baddeley and Hitch Stimulus

The model represented in stimulus 2, by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) is a Working memory which is an active store, that holds and manipulates information in our conscious thoughts. This stimulus illustrates the structure of working memory in terms of three components which comprises the phonological loop, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, and the central executive. These 3 components are separate, but they also interrelate. The phonological loop is a verbal working memory that comprises two sub-systems which hold the phonological store and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. The phonological loop which is the 'inner voice ' contains information we want to maintain in our STM before verbally communicating

The other component is the articulatory control which is the 'inner ear ', that holds the speech in a phonological memory trace that lasts for 1.5-2 seconds. The visuo-spatial sketchpad controls the things we visualise such as our spatial awareness of objects around us. For example, the visuo-spatial sketchpad enables us to remember exactly where we would have placed a cup when we turn our back and look into the fridge to pour a drink. Similarly, if you 're going for a run a see a dog the visuo-spatial loop enables you to recognise the dog 's features and track where it is located, just in case it may be a dangerous breed which may need to be avoided. (Grivas, 2011) The central executive is an "attention" controller which monitors and coordinates what comes out of the slave system. Furthermore, there is an additional episodic buffer which is a spare

Additionally, the model is also supported by experimental evidence that is considerable, as the model was developed and based on evidence obtained from lab experiments, so confounding variables were able to be controlled in the lab, resulting in more accurate results. Working memory is also an effective theory in contrary to the Atkinson and Shiffrin multi-model store, as it can be applied to real-life tasks for example when reading something you have to utilise your phonological loop to process the words in the book. Additionally, when you 're performing a problem-solving task you have to utilise the central executive because you need to visualise the information you 're trying to solve, whilst using the phonological loop to process the letters or numbers. However, working memory model has its limitations as it is too simplistic and vague as it does not outline what the overall role of the central executive is. More so, there is also little evidence to support the central executive as it has never been measured. Lieberman (1980), also criticises the visuo-spatial sketchpad, as Baddeley and Hitch (1974) imply that all spatial information is first visualised. However, he argues that blind people have excellent spatial awareness although they have never had any visual