Short-term memory: Where do we stand?

Abstract

Two empirical challenges to the traditional "modal model" of short-term memory are that neither the Brown-Peterson distractor technique nor the recency effect in recall is well accommodated by that position. Additionally, the status of memory stores as such, has declined in response to proceduralist thinking. At the same time, the concept of coding, on which the modal model is silent, is increasingly central to memory theory. People need to remember things in the short term, but a dedicated store does not need to be the agency.