Charlotte looks up a phone number on the Internet and says the number three times to herself.As she reaches for her phone to dial the number,she is distracted by noise coming from outside her office.When the noise ceases after about 30 seconds,she picks up the phone but finds that she cannot remember the number.This is due to the limits of _____ memory.
A)short-term
B)long-term
C)sensory
D)iconic

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Short-term memory refers to the memory system that holds a small amount of information for a brief period of time, typically around 30 seconds. In this scenario, Charlotte was repeating the phone number to herself in her short-term memory. However, after being distracted by noise for 30 seconds, she likely exceeded the capacity of her short-term memory and was unable to recall the phone number. The other options (long-term, sensory, and iconic memory) are not relevant to this scenario.

Charlotte Looks Up a Phone Number on the Internet and Says