What are the differences between short term and long term memories?

Both types of memories have their separate stores in the brain. Short term memories are held briefly (15-20 seconds) and if not rehearsed and kept active in the short term store, the memories will be forgotten. Additionally, short term memories are severely limited in capacity, meaning the short term store can only hold 7 items, plus or minus 2 (Miller, 1956). This capacity is improved if the information being remembered has meaning attached to it.

However, the long term memory holds information for a long duration of up to a lifetime. Also, it's capacity it thought to be unlimited, meaning there is no limit on how many long term memories an individual can remember and recall.