Court terme memory (STM) is a crucial component of human cognition, allowing individuals to temporarily store and manage information necessary for various tasks. Typically, short-term memory can hold about 7 (plus or minus 2) items at a time, a concept known as Miller’s Loi, which was proposed by psychologist George A. Miller in 1956.
Information in short-term memory is retained for a brief duration, usually ranging from 15 to 30 seconds, unless actively rehearsed or encoded into mémoire à long terme. This type of memory is essential for daily activities, such as remembering phone numbers long enough to dial them or recalling a grocery list while shopping.
Le processus de la mémoire à court terme implique plusieurs étapes. Initialement, l'information sensorielle est perçue par les sens et brièvement retenue dans la mémoire sensorielle. Si l'attention est concentrée sur certains stimuli, cette information est transférée dans la mémoire à court terme. La répétition, qui peut être soit de maintenance (répéter l'information) soit élaborative (lier de nouvelles informations à des connaissances existantes), aide à retenir l'information plus longtemps ou à la transférer dans la mémoire à long terme.
La mémoire à court terme est distincte de mémoire de travail, although the two terms are often used interchangeably. Working memory involves not just the temporary storage of information but also the manipulation and processing of that information for cognitive tasks. It plays a critical role in reasoning, comprehension, and learning.
Understanding short-term memory is vital in various fields, including education, psychology, and neuroscience, as it impacts how people learn and retain new information.