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The Phonological Loop

The phonological loop is the working-memory subsystem that holds and manipulates verbal and auditory information — spoken words, heard words, inner speech, and sub-vocalized rehearsal. Identified by Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch in 1974 as one of two "slave systems" in working memory, it runs in parallel with the visuospatial sketchpad under a central executive. In workshop design, the phonological loop is the cognitive substrate underneath the "saying" side of participant-driven dual coding: talking a concept through, teaching it back, or reasoning aloud all activate the phonological loop.

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Working Memory
Working memory is the brain's real-time processing system, responsible for holding and manipulating new information as it's encountered. It has a hard capacity ceiling — approximately five to nine…
The Visuospatial Sketchpad
The visuospatial sketchpad is the working-memory subsystem that holds and manipulates visual and spatial information — images, diagrams, shapes, spatial relationships, and mental layouts. Identified…

Mentioned In

  • Dual Coding

    Dual coding is the learning-science principle that information encoded through two channels simultaneously — verbal and visual — produces stronger and more durable memory than information encoded…

  • Dual Coding

    Dual coding is the learning-science principle that information encoded through two channels simultaneously — verbal and visual — produces stronger and more durable memory than information encoded…