.short-term memory is often called working memory because it holds information that you are working with at a given moment, but only for about 20 seconds. Then,unless the information is processed further, it is quickly forgotten. For example,if you were asked to dial an unfamiliar telrphone number, received a busy signal,and were then distracted by something else for 20 seconds, you probably would have forgotten the number at that point. Unless information in short-term memory is processed further,it does not make it to long-term memory