Short term memory

• information within the STM is coded acoustically (based on how things sound). It has a limited capacity of around 7+/-2 items before information is displaced by other stimuli (i.e. it is forgotten due to older information being replaced by new). It also has a limited duration of around 18 seconds.
• However, it is possible to keep information in the STM for slightly longer through the rehearsal loop. This is done through maintenance rehearsal whereby we simply repeat information over and over to ourselves (e.g. saying a pin number over and over again until we get to the cash point to use it). If we rehearse this information for long enough, then it will move to the LTM.