How does the Working Memory Model differ from the Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model?

• A. WMM introduces specialized short-term stores for verbal and visuospatial information plus a central executive, and adds an episodic buffer linking WM to LTM.
• B. WMM uses a single short-term store and no buffers.
• C. WMM discards the central executive in favor of a structured memory.
• D. WMM collapses long-term memory into short-term stores.

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is that the Working Memory Model treats short-term memory as a system of multiple, specialized parts rather than one undifferentiated store. In this view, a central executive acts as a control system that directs attention and coordinates processing. It is supported by two modality-specific buffers: the phonological loop for verbal information (with a phonological store and an articulatory rehearsal component) and the visuospatial sketchpad for visual and spatial information. A later addition, the episodic buffer, provides a temporary, integrative workspace that binds information from different sources and links to long-term memory.

This stands in contrast to the Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model, which describes short-term memory as a single, unitary store with limited capacity and duration, plus separate sensory memory and long-term memory, but no central executor or distinct buffers for different types of information. Because of that, the statement that short-term memory is just one store with no buffers misrepresents how the Working Memory Model explains how we hold and manipulate different kinds of information and how different tasks can interfere with each other.

So the distinctive difference is the architecture: multiple, specialized components with a central control system and an episodic buffer, rather than a single short-term store with no buffers.