Which component of the Working Memory Model is responsible for attentional control and coordination across the system?

• A. Central Executive
• B. Phonological Loop
• C. Visuospatial Sketchpad
• D. Episodic Buffer

Answer: (A)

Attentional control and coordination across the system are governed by the central executive. It acts as the control center that directs attention, decides what to attend to, switches tasks, and allocates cognitive resources among the other parts of working memory. It doesn’t store information itself but manages processing and how the different subsystems work together, guiding when to use the phonological loop for verbal information, when to engage the visuospatial sketchpad for visual-spatial data, and when to integrate across domains in the episodic buffer. The phonological loop handles verbal storage and rehearsal, the visuospatial sketchpad manages visual and spatial representations, and the episodic buffer provides a temporary multimodal workspace that links to long-term memory.