Video narration
Have you ever repeated a new phone number long enough to dial it, then forgotten it a minute later? That's short-term memory: your mind's temporary holding space. It keeps information available briefly, but it's limited and easily disrupted. A distraction, and that number can disappear. Long-term memory is different. It keeps information much longer-a person's name, how to ride a bike, or a childhood event. Here's the important part: the same phone number can start in short-term memory and become long-term memory. Repeat it, pay attention, or connect it to something meaningful, and you're more likely to remember it later. But that isn't guaranteed. If you forget the number afterward, it doesn't mean you never remembered it. It may have stayed briefly, then faded. So why can you hold a number now but lose it later? Short-term memory holds it briefly; long-term memory keeps it when it has been stored more deeply.