Question

after getting into a motorcycle accident, dave briefly lost consciousness. when the paramedics arrive, they begin asking him questions. dave knows his name, the date, and how he got there. he also remembers every childhood experience he is asked about. when given a list of seven digits to remember for 15 seconds, dave has no trouble recalling them. so far, the paramedics are relieved. after waiting 15 minutes, the paramedics ask dave if they can run the tests again. Dave replies "what tests"? you haven't run any tests. based on this information, what aspects of daves memory are working and which are not?

Answer 1

If Dave has no trouble recalling a list of seven digits to for 15 seconds, and after awiting for 15 minutes he is not able to remember the test also then he is definately having problem with his Short-term memory.

Short-term memory

Short-term memory is also known as primary or active memory. It has the capacity for holding, a small amount of information in mind in an active, available for a state of short period of time, which can not be cange or not manipulating.

The most commonly seen capacity is The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two (which we can find while learning Miller's Law), despite the fact that Miller himself stated that the figure was intended as little more than a joke. It could be especifically be Anterograde amnesia.   

Anterograde amnesia:-- One form of evidence, cited in favour of the separate existence of a short- term store comes from anterograde amnesia, the inability to learn new facts and episodes. Patients with this form of amnesia, have intact ability to retain small amounts of information over short time scales (up to 30 seconds) but are dramatically impaired in their ability to form longer-term memories. This is interpreted as showing that the short-term store is spared from amnesia and other brain diseases.

Example, short-term memory can be used to remember a phone number that has just been recited. The duration of short-term memory (when rehearsal or active maintenance is prevented) is believed to be in the order of seconds.

This problem can be decrease by Rehearsal. It is the process where information is kept in short-term memory by mentally repeating it. When the information is repeated each time, that information is reentered into the short-term memory, thus keeping that information for another 10 to 20 seconds [the average storage time for short-term memory].

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