The modern version of Baddeley’s model consists of four distinct components. Think of working memory as a company office: the employees, the boss, the whiteboard, and the filing cabinet.

Often called the "Inner Eye," this system manages visual and spatial data. If someone asks you how many windows are in your house, you likely visualize your home and "walk" through it mentally. That process is powered by the sketchpad. It helps us remember where objects are and how they look. 4. The Episodic Buffer (Added in 2000)

Think of this as the "boss" or the "conductor" of the system. It doesn’t store information itself. Instead, its job is to focus attention, switch between tasks, and coordinate the other three "slave" systems. If you’re driving while listening to a podcast, the Central Executive decides when to tune out the audio to focus on a difficult turn. 2. The Phonological Loop

Research shows that children with ADHD or dyslexia often have specific deficits in one of these working memory components, making it harder for them to follow multi-step instructions.