The working memory model is a theory for how short-term memory works, and an expansion of the views expressed in the MSM theory. Baddeley and Hitch in 1974 felt that STM was not just one store but a collection of different stores. These concepts lead them to form a model which consists of three slave systems; the central executive, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. They used the phrase ‘working memory’ to refer to the division of our memory that we utilize when we are working on an intricate task that requires data to be stored as you go along. The central executive is the key component of working memory. It works at delegating our attention to specific tasks, determining at any time how the two other components, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad, should be allocated different tasks. The central executive also has an exceedingly short capacity, so it is not able to deal with too many things in one time. The phonological loop also has a restricted capacity. It works in conserving auditory information and preserves which order that information came in. In 1986 Baddeley further divided the phonological loop into two separate components; the phonological store and the articulatory process. The phonological store operates as an inner ear, holding the words you hear and the articulatory processor operates like an inner voice, only used for words heard or seen. It then repeats them silently, which is a form of maintenance rehearsal. The visuo-spatial sketchpad is used when you have to plan a spatial task (determining visual relationships between objects). It stores both visual and spatial data here, but only temporarily. Visual information is what things look like and spatial information is the relationship between things.
The working memory model contains a vast amount of strong points, however we don’t know completely everything regarding the working memory model, so there is an