Working memory

Working memory is a limited-capacity system that temporarily maintains and manipulates information for ongoing thought and action. It supports tasks such as reasoning, comprehension, and mental calculation.

Baddeley's model of working memory: A model that divides working memory into interacting systems for verbal, visual-spatial, and executive processing. It provides the best-known account of working memory's interacting components.
Short-term memory: A memory system that briefly retains a small amount of information, often without requiring active manipulation. It is often distinguished from working memory by its emphasis on temporary storage.
Reading comprehension: The process of constructing meaning from written text by integrating words, sentences, and prior knowledge. Readers must retain earlier text while integrating it with incoming sentences.
Embedded-processes model: A model that treats working memory as activated long-term memory and the focus of attention rather than separate stores. It challenges the idea that working memory consists of dedicated storage components.
Phonological loop: A working-memory subsystem that briefly maintains speech-based and other sound-based information. It explains how words and sounds remain available through rehearsal.
Long-term memory: A memory system that stores information over extended periods, from minutes to a lifetime. Working memory draws on stored knowledge and can encode information for later retrieval.
Mental arithmetic: Calculation performed in the mind without writing down intermediate steps. Intermediate results must remain accessible while later operations are performed.
Memory span: The longest sequence of items a person can immediately repeat in the same order. Simple span tasks measure brief retention, unlike tasks requiring substantial manipulation.
Visuospatial sketchpad: A working-memory subsystem for temporarily maintaining and manipulating visual and spatial information. It accounts for holding images and spatial layouts in mind.
Attention: The selection and prioritization of information for enhanced processing. Attention helps determine which information enters and remains in working memory.

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