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You use working memory every day, in many situations: to read, write, plan, organize, follow a conversation, do mental math, or follow multi-step directions. A telephone number is typically 10 digits long, but we often break the number into three groups (55), allowing us to use only three working memory slots to remember 10 digits. You can increase your working memory capacity by grouping items together. Some say it’s as many as seven items, and others claim it’s four. Researchers disagree about the number of information “bytes” that can be held by the brain. Some people can store more information than others. WM continues to develop until around age 15, but not everyone develops at the same pace or has the same working memory capacity. Research shows that young children have limited working memory skills, being able to hold only one or two items in memory. The number of items you store in your working memory might not be as many as the number your best friend can accommodate on his mental shelf. You arrive home with cereal, milk, and bread, but have forgotten the eggs.

You head to the cereal aisle, but as you focus on Special K, the eggs fall off your mental shelf. While you’re in the store, you suddenly remember you need cereal. Think of working memory as a shelf in your brain. You might be familiar with the term “short-term memory,” which is used interchangeably with the term “ working memory.” Both refer to thoughts or information you hold temporarily in your memory, so that they are available when you need them to complete a task. Working memory deficits are a symptom of attention deficit disorder ( ADHD or ADD), autism, and learning disabilities. You might think that these are all examples of inattention.Īfter digging into working memory studies, I have realized that, while these are examples of inattention, they are mostly signs of poor working memory. Losing your keys, leaving your wallet in the refrigerator, forgetting your husband’s birthday, asking the store clerk to repeat the directions to the gift-wrap department.