ABSTRACT
This chapter is about remembering over brief intervals of time. Short-term memory (STM) is distinguished from long-term memory (LTM), which in the laboratory is typically any memory more than a few minutes old, and in the real world, our memories of a lifetime. Short-term retention is often assessed by one of two tests. The distractor task attempts to quantify the duration of immediate memory over brief delay intervals when rehearsal is prevented. The memory span attempts to quantify the capacity of immediate memory. Working memory's central executive seems to play a central role in organizing the types of activities necessary for problem solving. Finally, numerous theories of long-term learning have hypothesized that STM is a sort of gateway into long-term memory. Both consolidation theory and dual-store theory state that interference with short-term processing would prevent long-term memory formation.
