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Literacy 7-12

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Literacy 7-12 > Factors > Short-term Memory

Short-term Memory

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Short-term Memory stores a limited amount of information for up to 30 seconds. It is our holding tank for skills and knowledge that, with practice, will move to Long-term Memory. The amount of information that can be stored in Short-term Memory increases significantly during childhood and into adolescence. Adolescents' Short-term Memory is important for processing and learning new Vocabulary, and supports reading comprehension.

Main Ideas

There are two types of Short-term Memory:

  • Verbal Short-term Memory stores verbal information.
  • Visuospatial Short-term Memory stores information about our perceptions of spatial relationships.

Short-term Memory is different from Working Memory because information is not manipulated in Short-term Memory, as it is in Working Memory. When items in Short-term Memory are rehearsed sufficiently, they are consolidated to become part of Long-term Memory.

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