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Short-term Memory stores a limited amount of information for a short time. It is our primary, holding tank for skills and knowledge that, with practice, or use of memory strategies such as rehearsal, will move to Long-term Memory. In addition to being a precursor to long term learning, Short-term Memory is important for daily functioning in the classroom. For instance, it can help us remember what we read a few seconds ago, what we just heard, or where we placed our pencil.
Short-term Memory is different from Working Memory because information is not manipulated in Short-term Memory, as it is in Working Memory. There are two main types of Short-term Memory:
Students with learning disabilities or ADHD may have reduced verbal and/or visuospatial Short-term Memory capacities which can contribute to difficulties learning, particularly as it pertains to math facts and concepts and reading readiness and early reading skills. Educators can support students with dyslexia and dyscalculia with scaffolds such as using multisensory instructional techniques. In addition, because our Short-term Memory is limited, we can only hold a limited number of items in mind, however the size of these items can vary. As such, educators can support students' use of this limited system by teaching them memory strategies, such as chunking—or grouping smaller or individual pieces of information into meaningful groups, which allows learners to hold larger pieces of, and therefore more, information.
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