The Working Memory Model

1) What is the central executive?

2) What is the phonological loop? 

3) What is the visuo-spatial sketch pad?

4) What is the episodic buffer?

1) The central executive's function is to direct attention to particular tasks, determining at any time how resources are allocated to tasks.

2) The phonological loop has limited capacity. It deals with auditory information and preserves the order of information.

3) The visuo-spatial sketch pad is used when you have to plan a spatial task. The visual and spatial information is stored here.

4) The episodic buffer is extra storage system for the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketch pad. 

• A study carried out by Hitch and Baddeley supports the working memory model. They gave participants 2 tasks to do simultaneously. In task 1, participants were given 2 letters such as 'AB' and were asked 'true or false?'. This takes up the central executive's role. Task 2 asked participants to say 'the the the' repeatedly or were asked to say random digits.