Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

4-25-2025

Keywords

capacity limits, long-term memory, memory

Disciplines

Cognitive Psychology | Developmental Psychology

Abstract

What is the nature of mental activity that allows a child to remember a past experience? Traditionally, the question of memory was answered with an exclusively static model: The mind was said to have storage bins to which represented experiences are added. Depending on the exact nature of the storage bin, the experience is remembered either for a short time (i.e., shortterm memory) or for a long time (i.e., long-term memory). Though widely familiar, this model of static storage bins falls notoriously short on explaining the nuance of memory findings. For example, short-term memory appears to have strict capacity limits for some type of information—but not for all. Similarly, long-term memory appears to contain not only semantic information but also seemingly irrelevant perceptual details.

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