Long term memory and short term memory are topics studied heavily in Psychology and Biology. Scientists have created many experiences to test the differences between long and short term memory. There are a lot of theories as to how pieces of your information or events go into short term of long term. For example, when given a list of names and asked to recall them from memory, it is typical that humans remember the beginning of the list and the end of the list. The idea that it would be easy to remember the first few names on a list is called the primacy effect, meaning the first couple words are stored in the long term memory. Remembering the last few words on the list is the recency effect, meaning that the words are in your recent and short term memory. In short term memory, ideas or concepts are typically remembered in chunks of 7 items, whereas long term memory has an infinite amount. This is because long term memory must be attended to and rehearsed or elaborated for some time. Short term memory is not rehearsed or elaborated therefore it is less likely to be recalled for a long time after the initial memory. This idea relates to studying; it is better to study in small chunks over a long period of time in repetition rather than cramming a night before an exam. This is because the studied material is now if the long term memory from repetition.
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