Factors Affecting Short Term Memory - 1528 Words

The phrase ‘ short term memory’ refers to the limited capacity in the conscious mind that can hold small amounts of information for a short period, in an active and readily available state (Pinel, 2011). The capacity of ones STM varies from one person to another, with many findings suggesting that age, illness and dietary intakes are contributing factors that increase or decrease ones capacity (MacDuffie, Atkins, Flegal, Clark and Reuter-Lorenz, 2012; Chen and Benjamin, 2012; Mahoney, Taylor, Kanarek, 2005). Different Dietary intakes have shown to have major influences upon memory performance tasks, when assessing ones STM capacity. In studies involving rats, natural fruits like blueberries have shown to improve STM performance after consecutive use (Malin, Goyarzu, Chang, Ennis, Beckett and Joseph, 2011), whereas alcohol has been shown to decrease STM performance after consecutive use (Walker and Hunter, 1978). However studies on animals are not reliable because animals have different physiologies and metabolisms to humans (Hackem and Redelmeier, 2006) so their reactions to various stimuli are different. Although, research-involving the consumption of alcohol in humans STM over a period of time (Cermak, Butters and Goodglass, 1971) is consistent with the findings from the studies conducted on rats. This can imply that humans STM can also be affected in a similar way to rats. Therefore natural fruits (high in sugar) could also improve a humans STM capacity. Although theShow MoreRelatedM emory Process1116 Words   |  5 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This paper will analyze the results of the memory test. As a part of the analysis, the paper is addressing the following: working memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory, the paper will also describe the selected test and the results. 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