Editing Working memory (section)

== Theories ==
Numerous models have been proposed for how working memory functions, both anatomically and cognitively. Of those, the two that have been most influential are summarized below.

=== The multicomponent model ===
{{Main|Baddeley's model of working memory}}
[[File:Baddeley and Hitch's Working Memory Model.png|thumb|300px|Baddeley and Hitch's model of working memory]]

In 1974 [[Alan Baddeley|Baddeley]] and [[Graham Hitch|Hitch]]<ref name="Baddeley Hitch 1974">{{cite book | vauthors = Baddeley AD, Hitch G | title = Working Memory | volume = 2 | veditors = Bower GH | series = Psychology of Learning and Motivation | publisher = Academic Press | year = 1974 | pages = 47–89 | isbn = 978-0-12-543308-2 |oclc = 777285348 |doi= 10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60452-1}}</ref> introduced the [[Baddeley's model of working memory|multicomponent model of working memory]]. The theory proposed a model containing three components: the central executive, the phonological loop, and the visuospatial sketchpad with the central executive functioning as a control center of sorts, directing info between the phonological and visuospatial components.<ref name="Levin 2011">{{cite book |last1=Levin |first1=Eden S. |title=Working Memory: Capacity, Developments, and Improvement Techniques |date=2011 |publisher=Nova Science Publisher |isbn=978-1-61761-980-9 }}{{pn|date=July 2024}}</ref> The [[Baddeley's model of working memory#Central executive|central executive]] is responsible for, among other things, directing [[attention]] to relevant information, suppressing irrelevant information and inappropriate actions, and coordinating cognitive processes when more than one task is simultaneously performed. A "central executive" is responsible for supervising the integration of information and for coordinating subordinate systems responsible for the short-term maintenance of information. One subordinate system, the [[phonological loop]] (PL), stores phonological information (that is, the sound of language) and prevents its decay by continuously refreshing it in a [[memory rehearsal|rehearsal]] loop. It can, for example, maintain a seven-digit telephone number for as long as one repeats the number to oneself repeatedly.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Variations in psychology| vauthors = Weiten S |publisher = Wadsworth|year = 2013|location = New York|pages = 281–282|edition = 9th }}</ref> The other subordinate system, the [[Baddeley's model of working memory#Visuospatial sketchpad|visuospatial sketchpad]], stores visual and spatial information. It can be used, for example, for constructing and manipulating visual images and for representing mental maps. The sketchpad can be further broken down into a visual subsystem (dealing with such phenomena as shape, colour, and texture), and a spatial subsystem (dealing with location).{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

In 2000 Baddeley extended the model by adding a fourth component, the [[Baddeley's model of working memory#Episodic buffer|episodic buffer]], which holds representations that integrate phonological, visual, and spatial information, and possibly information not covered by the subordinate systems (e.g.,&nbsp;semantic information, musical information). The episodic buffer is also the link between working memory and long-term memory.<ref name="Weiten 2013 281–282">{{Cite book|title = Variations in psychology| vauthors = Weiten W |publisher = Wadsworth|year = 2013|location = Belmont, CA|pages = 281–282|edition = 9th}}</ref> The component is episodic because it is assumed to bind information into a unitary episodic representation. The episodic buffer resembles Tulving's concept of [[episodic memory]], but it differs in that the episodic buffer is a temporary store.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Baddeley A | title = The episodic buffer: a new component of working memory? | journal = Trends in Cognitive Sciences | volume = 4 | issue = 11 | pages = 417–423 | date = November 2000 | pmid = 11058819 | doi = 10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01538-2 | s2cid = 14333234 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

=== Working memory as part of long-term memory ===
{{Annotated image|caption=The central executive of working memory is retrieving memory from long-term memory.|image=WorkingMemory Label Free.jpg|width=320|height=179|image-width=320|image-left=0|image-top=0|annotations={{Annotation|130|15|Central Executive|font-weight=bold|font-size=10}}
{{Annotation|10|160|Long-term Memory|font-weight=bold|font-size=10}}}}[[Anders Ericsson]] and [[Walter Kintsch]]<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ericsson KA, Kintsch W | title = Long-term working memory | journal = Psychological Review | volume = 102 | issue = 2 | pages = 211–245 | date = April 1995 | pmid = 7740089 | doi = 10.1037/0033-295X.102.2.211 | name-list-style = amp }}</ref> have introduced the notion of "long-term working memory", which they define as a set of "retrieval structures" in long-term memory that enable seamless access to the information relevant for everyday tasks. In this way, parts of long-term memory effectively function as working memory. In a similar vein, [[Nelson Cowan|Cowan]] does not regard working memory as a separate system from [[long-term memory]]. Representations in working memory are a subset of representations in long-term memory. Working memory is organized into two embedded levels. The first consists of long-term memory representations that are activated. There can be many of these—there is theoretically no limit to the activation of representations in long-term memory. The second level is called the focus of attention. The focus is regarded as having a limited capacity and holds up to four of the activated representations.<ref name="Cowan 1995">{{cite book | vauthors =Cowan N  |title=Attention and memory: an integrated framework |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford [Oxfordshire] |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-19-506760-6 |oclc=30475237 }}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref>

Oberauer has extended Cowan's model by adding a third component—a more narrow focus of attention that holds only one chunk at a time. The one-element focus is embedded in the four-element focus and serves to select a single chunk for processing. For example, four digits can be held in mind at the same time in Cowan's "focus of attention". When the individual wishes to perform a process on each of these digits—for example, adding the number two to each digit—separate processing is required for each digit since most individuals cannot perform several mathematical processes in parallel.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Attention, working memory, and long-term memory in multimedia learning: A integrated perspective based on process models of working memory| vauthors = Schweppe J |date = 2014|journal = Educational Psychology Review|doi = 10.1007/s10648-013-9242-2|issue = 2|volume = 26|page = 289|s2cid = 145088718}}</ref> Oberauer's attentional component selects one of the digits for processing and then shifts the attentional focus to the next digit, continuing until all digits have been processed.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Oberauer K | title = Access to information in working memory: exploring the focus of attention | journal = Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition | volume = 28 | issue = 3 | pages = 411–421 | date = May 2002 | pmid = 12018494 | doi = 10.1037/0278-7393.28.3.411 }}</ref>