III. Working memory
Working memory (WM) is a short-term memory system we use to store
and process information we are currently thinking about. Whereas the
capacity of sensory memory is large (e.g., everything in your visual field
is stored in iconic memory, or everything that is sufficiently loud is stored
in echoic memory), the capacity of WM is much smaller. Typically, some
of the information in iconic memory is selected for further processing in
WM. While sensory memory operates preattentively (unconsciously), WM
has been defined by some as the current contents of consciousness. It
operates like a sketchpad or desktop in the sense that it allows a person
to comprehend, retrieve, and manipulate information.