ABSTRACT
Since the days of the multiple-components theory of memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968), it has become common practice to characterize or differentiate memory systems by specifying their lifetime, capacity, and susceptibility to interference. The concept of independent structural components had to be given up; the one-store model by Shiffrin and Schneider (1977) and many later models defined short-term memory as activated long-term memory, that is, as a process rather than as a component. However, comparing the aforementioned three parameters is still a useful approach to gain evidence on common or different mechanisms of memory systems or processes.
