short-term memory


noun
  1. information retained in the brain and retrievable from it over a brief span of time (contrasted with long-term memory).

Origin of short-term memory

1
First recorded in 1965–70

Words Nearby short-term memory

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use short-term memory in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for short-term memory

short-term memory

noun
  1. psychol that section of the memory storage system of limited capacity (approximately seven items) that is capable of storing material for a brief period of time: Compare long-term memory

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for short-term memory

short-term memory

Retention of information that undergoes little processing or interpretation and can be recalled for only a few seconds. Short-term memory can retain about seven items.

Notes for short-term memory

A popular example of short-term memory is the ability to remember a seven-digit telephone number just long enough to dial a call. In most cases, unless the number is consciously repeated several times, it will be forgotten.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.