Working Memory vs Short-Term vs Long-Term Memory

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-10-02

Short-term and long-term memory

In plain words, short-term memory holds a small amount for a short time. Long-term memory is the lasting store.

Three meanings of working memory

One review sets out what researchers mean by three memory words (Cowan, 2008). It says researchers use "working memory" in three slightly different ways. Some mean short-term memory put to use on a task. Some mean a system that holds information and works on it. Some mean attention used to manage what is held. The review draws on research with adults. It says nothing about children who find learning hard.

Which meaning we use

Working memory means holding something in mind while you use it. Following a two-part instruction is one example. Keeping a number in your head while you work with it is another. So is remembering the start of your own sentence. Working memory is one of the jobs running at once. It is not the single thing that explains the rest.

In our view, the meaning we use is close to the first two in Cowan's list. His review draws on research with adults. Our meaning names a job a child does, not a part of the brain.

Are the three memory words settled?

Cowan writes of "considerable confusion" about the three types of memory. He names two ways short-term and long-term memory might differ. One is fading over time. The other is a limit on how much can be held. He calls both "still controversial". In his account, working memory has no one settled definition.

Cowan's review is about the words. It draws on research with adults. It does not say that any child has a memory problem.

If a report uses these words

If a report or a teacher uses these words, ask which meaning is meant. Then ask what they saw your child do.

In our view, the words matter less than the job. Notice how much one instruction asks a child to keep in mind.

Our page on processing difficulties has more.

When to ask for help

Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.

• Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
• Schoolwork well below what school expects.
• A teacher who raises a concern about learning.
• Extreme upset about schoolwork.
• Complete avoidance of school or learning.
• Hopelessness about learning.
• Sadness or worry that lasts.
• Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
• A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

If no skill has gone, start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.

Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.