What is the role of working memory in cognitive processing, and how does it differ from long-term memory?

Working memory plays a crucial role in our cognitive processing by allowing us to temporarily hold and manipulate information for use in ongoing cognitive tasks. It can be thought of as a sort of "mental scratchpad" where information can be briefly stored and manipulated. Working memory is often described as a limited capacity system, meaning that it has a finite amount of resources available for processing information. The capacity of working memory is generally believed to be around 7 items, plus or minus 2. However, this capacity can be expanded through the use of mnemonic strategies or by chunking information into larger, more meaningful units. The du....