Child Development Network

Working memory (WM) is the mental workspace where we hold and manipulate  information in our mind. This is the information we need in real time as we are engaged in thinking, learning, planning and behavioural self control.

When it comes to behaviour, WM is where we hold the information necessary to 'think before acting'. In this way we are able to remember rules and consider consequences, so that we can make the best decisions about how we want to behave.

In order to pay attention, WM is necessary for us to remember what we are paying attention to. When distractions come along, we need to be able to process those distractions, yet remember what we should be focusing on.

In the classroom, the types of information held in working memory may be a series of instructions given by the teacher, or the words of a sentence a child is planning to write, whilst thinking about the spelling and punctuation of the words they are actually writing.

Short Term Memory (STM) is part of WM. It refers more specifically to the ability to remember and immediately recall what we have heard (Auditory STM), or what we have seen (Visual-Spatial STM).

Working memory refers to the brain's system that not only remembers, but also manipulates this information. An example would be repeating a sequence of remembered numbers backwards.

Executive Function is a term used to refer to a larger system and set of processes involved with attention control, 'seeing the big picture' of what is going on, setting goals, making plans, undertaking step by step tasks to achieve those goals, and self-monitoring along the way.

Long Term Memory

Long Term Memory is very different from STM. It refers to our memory of information, events, and procedural memory of how to do things. While STM is based primarily in the frontal lobe of our brain, long term memory is based deep in the brain, particularly our hippocampus.

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