CHARACTERISTICS OF SHORT-TERM MEMORY OF MEDICAL STUDENTS AT CAN THO UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACY

Abstract

Background: Short-term memory is the foundation of long-term memory, which greatly influences cognitive activities, especially in the field of education. Medical students contribute to showing an overview of the characteristics of short-term memory of medical students in particular and students in general in a developing country like Vietnam. Objectives: Surveying the characteristics of visual and auditory short-term memory through numerical data and image data in medical students. Materials and methods: Using a cross-sectional descriptive design method on 160 medical students studying at Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy. The study includes surveys of visual and auditory short-term memory using two types of numerical and image information, using a questionnaire built based on the Nachaive method in the form of online through a website app and collected the results via email. Results: The median results of visual short-term memory (VSTM) in numerical and image data are 11 and 12 respectively. The VSTM figure in numerical data shows that the highest score is 12 (f=46). The VSTM figure in image data records that the score 12 has a dominant frequency (f=87). The median results of auditory short-term memory (ASTM) in numerical and image forms are 10 and 9 respectively. The ASTM figure in numerical data shows that the highest score is 12 (f=32). The ASTM figure in image data notes that score 9 has the highest frequency (f=37). Conclusions: Students of Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy have visual short-term memory that is superior to auditory short-term memory in terms of memorization. The results of visual short-term memory in image data are better than visual short-term memory in numerical data. Conversely, the results of auditory short-term memory in numerical data are better than auditory short-term memory in image data.