06 Cognitive Psychology: Module 12

Module 12: Sensory, Short-Term, and Working Memory After class, Perry overheard some of his classmates discussing creating a study group for the upcoming exam. Perry joined the conversation and said he was interested. After figuring out when and where to study, Perry swapped phone numbers with one of the other students. He repeated the seven digits in his mind until he typed them into his phone. Now he just needed to enter the name for the new contact. Crap, what was her name? Perry whispered to himself. He looked up from his phone, but the group had already dispersed. Perry shrugged and entered "Study Buddy." In this chapter, we'll look at what James called primary memory, information stored temporarily and make up our conscious experiences. We will specifically discuss three storage systems that are often included in information processing theories of cognition: sensory memory, short-term memory, and working memory. We will then review findings that demonstrate why short-term memory stores are separable from long-term memory stores.