Describe Baddeley's view of the three components of working memory.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The three components of the working memory are the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the central executives. The phonological loop is specialized to briefly store speech-based information about the sounds of language. The phonological loop contains two separate components: an acoustic code (the sounds we heard), which decays in a few seconds, and rehearsal, which allows us to repeat the words in the phonological store. The visuospatial sketchpad stores visual and spatial information, including visual imagery. As in the case of the phonological loop, the capacity of the visuospatial sketchpad is limited. If we try to put too many items in the visuospatial sketchpad, we cannot represent them accurately enough to retrieve them successfully. The phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad function independently. The central executive integrates information not only from the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad but also from long-term memory. In Baddeley's view, the central executive plays important roles in attention, planning, and organizing. The central executive acts like a supervisor who monitors which information deserves our attention and which we should ignore. It also selects which strategies to use to process information and solve problems. Like the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad, the central executive has a limited capacity.