A short-lived sensory memory registers all or most of the information that hits our visual receptors, but this information decays within less than a second. Iconic memory: Echoic memory: the persistence of sound that lasts for a few seconds after a presentation of the original stimulus There is a limit to how much information can be held in short-term memory Digit span: the number of a digits a person can remember; the average capacity is about 5 to 9 Chunking: smaller units can be combined into larger meaningful unites; a collection of elements that are strongly associated with one another but are weakly associated with elements in other chunks  Increases our ability to hold information in short-term memory  Enables the short-term memory system to deal with large amount of information involved in many of the tasks we perform everyday The greater amount of information in an image, the fewer items that can be held in visual short- term memory. Whether considering items or information, there are limits on how much information we can store in short-term memory. Information doesn’t just sit in short-term memory; it can be manipulated in the service of mental processes such as computation, learning, and reasoning. Working memory: a limited capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning  Must be dynamic and must also consist of a number of components that can function separately Short-term memory is mostly concerned with storing information, while working memory manipulates it during complex cognition. Baddeley developed new working memory model.e

1. Phonological loop: holds verbal and auditory information; attached to the central executive a. Phonological store: limited capacity and holds information for only a few seconds b. Articulatory rehearsal process: responsible for rehearsal that can keep items in the phonological store from decaying 2. Visuospatial sketch pad: holds visual and special information; attached to the central executive 3. Central executive: where the major work of working memory occurs; pulls information from long-term memory and coordinates the activity of the phonological loop and visuospatial sketch pad by focusing on specific parts of a task and deciding how to divide attention between tasks  An attention controller; related to executive attention Phonological similarity effect: the confusion of letters or words that sound similar; occurs when words are processed in the phonological store part of the phonological loop Word length effect: occurs when memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words; the number of words you can say should be close to your digit span Articulatory suppression: the repetition of an irrelevant sound; reduces memory because speaking interferes with rehearsal Visual imagery: the creation of visual images in the mind in the absence of a physical visual stimulus; handled by the visuospatial sketch pad Mental rotation: