Cowan N
Department of Psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia 65211.
Mem Cognit. 1993 Mar;21(2):162-7. doi: 10.3758/bf03202728.
The premise of this paper is that the popular term "short-term memory" (STM) is vague because it is used to refer to either (1) the set of representations from long-term memory currently in a state of heightened activation or (2) the focus of attention or content of awareness. A more coherent conception of STM is hierarchical, with the focus of attention depicted as a subset of the activated portion of long-term memory. Research issues are discussed to illustrate that this simple conception of STM leads to testable predictions and useful lines of inquiry.
本文的前提是，常用术语“短期记忆”（STM）是模糊的，因为它被用来指代以下两种情况之一：（1）长期记忆中当前处于高度激活状态的一组表征；或者（2）注意力的焦点或意识的内容。对STM更连贯的概念是分层的，注意力的焦点被描绘为长期记忆激活部分的一个子集。文中讨论了研究问题，以说明这种简单的STM概念会产生可检验的预测和有用的探究方向。
