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Psychology
How Short-Term and Long-Term Memory Differ
Sensory, working, and lifetime stores
Related Worksheets
Memory is not one single storage box in the brain. Information usually moves through stages, from very brief sensory memory to short-term or working memory, and then sometimes into long-term memory. Understanding these stages helps explain why a phone number can disappear in seconds but a childhood event can last for years. It also helps students choose better study habits instead of relying on last-minute repetition.
Key Facts
- Sensory memory holds sights, sounds, and other sensations for a very short time, often less than 1 to 3 seconds.
- Short-term memory usually lasts about 15 to 30 seconds without rehearsal.
- Working memory is the active use of short-term memory for thinking, problem solving, and following directions.
- A common estimate for short-term memory capacity is about 7 items, often written as 7 plus or minus 2.
- Long-term memory can store information for days, years, or even a lifetime.
- Rehearsal, attention, meaning, sleep, and retrieval practice increase the chance that information moves into long-term memory.
Vocabulary
- Sensory memory
- Sensory memory is the very brief storage of information from the senses, such as a flash of light or the echo of a sound.
- Short-term memory
- Short-term memory is the limited storage system that holds a small amount of information for about 15 to 30 seconds.
- Working memory
- Working memory is the mental workspace used to hold and manipulate information while thinking or solving a task.
- Long-term memory
- Long-term memory is the system that stores information, skills, and experiences for long periods of time.
- Encoding
- Encoding is the process of turning information into a form that can be stored in memory.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating short-term memory and long-term memory as the same thing. They differ in duration, capacity, and how information is stored and retrieved.
- Assuming everything you sense becomes a long-term memory. Most sensory information is lost quickly unless attention selects it for further processing.
- Trying to memorize long lists as separate items. Chunking related items together is more effective because short-term memory has a limited capacity.
- Rereading notes without testing yourself. Retrieval practice strengthens long-term memory more than passive review because it forces the brain to rebuild the information.
Practice Questions
- 1 A student hears a 7-digit phone number and repeats it silently for 20 seconds before dialing. Which memory system is mainly being used, and why?
- 2 A list has 18 random letters. If a student can hold about 6 letters at a time in short-term memory, how many groups are needed to remember the whole list without using chunking?
- 3 Explain why remembering your first day of school is different from remembering a locker combination you just read 10 seconds ago.