working memory

noun

: memory that involves storing, focusing attention on, and manipulating information for a relatively short period of time (such as a few seconds)

A simple activity involving working memory is the carry-over operation in mental arithmetic, which requires temporarily storing a string of numbers and holding the sum of one addition in mind while calculating the next.

—Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic

Your short-term memory might help you to remember what someone has just said to you, for example, but your working memory would allow you to recite it to them backwards or pick out the first letter of each word.

—Jonathan K. Foster

compare long-term memory, short-term memory

Examples of working memory in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Additionally, a 2022 study published in Educational Sciences found that children with higher imagination levels (measured by the originality and flexibility of their ideas) also demonstrated better cognitive flexibility and visual-spatial working memory. —Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025

The babies were shown a series of pictures, some of which repeated after a long enough lag to ensure that the infant couldn't track them via short-term working memory. —John Timmer, Ars Technica, 21 Mar. 2025

The study also found that self-control and working memory played a key role in developing patience. —Mark Travers, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025

For example, offloading memory tasks to apps or digital planners frees up your brain’s working memory for higher-order thinking. —Raquel Gomes, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for working memory

• emery

Medical Definition

working memory

noun

: memory that involves storing, focusing attention on, and manipulating information for a relatively short period of time (such as a few seconds)

A simple activity involving working memory is the carry-over operation in mental arithmetic, which requires temporarily storing a string of numbers and holding the sum of one addition in mind while calculating the next.

—Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic, Scientific American

Your short-term memory might help you to remember what someone has just said to you, for example, but your working memory would allow you to recite it to them backwards or pick out the first letter of each word.

—Jonathan K. Foster, New Scientist