Recent memory is involved in the selection, initiation, and termination of information-processing functions such as encoding, storing, and retrieving data. One test of recent memory is memory span, the number of items, usually words or numbers, that a person can hold onto and recall. So bit fuzzy in terms of stric time cut-off, no? Probably better if I phrased it this way: There are three main types of memory: working memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.