STM, indeed, is a set of storage systems whereas WM indicates the cognitive operations and executive functions associated with the organization and manipulation of stored information.

The former concerns broad knowledge of facts, rules, concepts, and propositions ('general knowledge'), the latter is related to personal and experienced events and the contexts in which they occurred ('personal recollection').Īlthough STM is closely related to the concept of ‘working memory’ (WM), STM and WM represent two distinct entities. Declarative memory includes semantic and episodic memory. On the other side, information collected in the LTM storage consist of memories for the performance of actions or skills (i.e., procedural memories, “knowing how”) and memories of facts, rules, concepts, and events (i.e., declarative memories, “knowing that”). Practically, STM works as a kind of “scratchpad” for temporary recall of a limited number of data (in the verbal domain, roughly the George Miller’s ‘magical’ number 7 +/- 2 items) that come from the sensory register and are ready to be processed through attention and recognition. Nevertheless, the two systems are closely related. The difference between the two memories, however, is not just in the 'time' variable but is above all functional. In contrast, long-term memory (LTM) may hold an indefinite amount of information.

Short-term memory (STM), also referred to as short-term storage, or primary or active memory indicates different systems of memory involved in the retention of pieces of information (memory chunks) for a relatively short time (usually up to 30 seconds).

Memory loss diseases