The Predictive Brain Must Have a Limitation in Short-Term Memory Capacity

Traditionally, short-term memory (STM) has been assessed by asking participants to remember words, visual objects, or numbers for a short amount of time before their recall or recognition of those items is tested. However, this focus on memory for past sensory input might have obscured potential the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current directions in psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society 2021-10, Vol.30 (5), p.384-390
Main Authors: Trapp, Sabrina, Parr, Thomas, Friston, Karl, Schröger, Erich
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Memory
Short term
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Traditionally, short-term memory (STM) has been assessed by asking participants to remember words, visual objects, or numbers for a short amount of time before their recall or recognition of those items is tested. However, this focus on memory for past sensory input might have obscured potential theoretical insights into the function of this cognitive faculty. Here, we suggest that STM may have an important role in predicting future sensory input. This reconceptualization of STM may provide a functional explanation for its capacity limitation.
ISSN:0963-7214
1467-8721
DOI:10.1177/09637214211029977