The distinction between STM and LTM

• Memories for events in the present or immediate past is referred to as short term memory
• Memories for events that have happened in the more distant past is referred to as the long term memory
• STM and LTM are distinguished in terms of the capacity, duration and coding of each type
• Capacity refers to how much information can be held in either the STM or LTM
• Duration refers to how long information can be held in either the STM or LTM
• Encoding refers to how information is changed so that it can be stored in either the STM or LTM