secondary memory

In psychology, "secondary memory" refers to a storehouse of information accumulated over time, as distinguished from "primary memory" which handles immediate concerns. Memory researchers now often use the term long-term memory for this relatively permanent storage and retrieval of information from the brain.

Long-term memories can be about distant past events or more recent experiences. They are thought to be collections of information augmented by retrieval attributes, allowing us to distinguish one memory from others. These memories can be classified as declarative (facts and events) or nondeclarative (skills and motor movements). They are further categorized as episodic (tied to a specific time and place) or semantic (lacking such association, like general knowledge).123

The hippocampus and other temporal lobe structures, along with the cortex, are believed to be involved in processing, storing, and retrieving long-term memories. The formation of long-term memory is critical for the hippocampal formation. The process involves acquisition (learning), storage (retention), and retrieval.123