Your Episodic Buffer

3. Your Episodic Buffer. This section of your working memory is
essentially a temporary storehouse where you can collect and combine
information that you have gotten from your visuospatial sketchpad
and phonological loop, along with your long-term memory.24
Think of this like a notebook or page in a word processing program
where you are working with sentences, graphic images, and then
thinking about what else you would like to add from what you already
know. As Margaret Matlin describes it, the episodic buffer ‘‘actively
manipulates information so that you can interpret an earlier
experience, solve new problems, and plan future activities.’’25
For example, say a co-worker says something to you at work that
offends you. This is where you might consider the words the person
just said, the context in which he said it, and take into consideration
what you remember from how this co-worker has acted toward you
before (which comes from your long-term memory). Then, this episodic
buffer helps you quickly decide what to do in light of how you
have interpreted this offending remark.