<p>If you look at overloading from overuse of directed attention then I would say yes, and I would say yes it does lead to fatigue and stress, which is why you need to redress with Attention Restoration Therapy (Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989, &amp; Kaplan, 1985). If we look at an extreme example of stress, PTSD, then I would say yes it affects our cognitive abilities (Richard S, Lazarus and Judith Blackfield Cohen, 1977; Dowhrenwend, 2010).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-05T08:42:05.000Z
Welcome and +1 for a referenced answer. However, could you add a little bit more background, especially *how* overuse affects memory and how you relate 'overuse' to stress and PTSD?
AliceD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-05T12:17:47.890Z
To add to what @AliceD asked for, can you please also provide a reference list to allow others to know what articles Kaplan and Kaplan (1989), Dowhrenwend (2010), and Kaplan (1985) etc. are?
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-05T08:37:24.100Z
2018-12-05T08:37:24.100Z
Yvonne Doughty
<p>Can stress affect short term memory? If one is overloaded with a lot of information, can their short term memory be affected?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-03T23:12:50.387Z
Welcome to Psychology.SE.  You have asked 2 questions in one here.  Which do you want answered in this question?  Is it on overload of information or stress? We also work differently to most SE sites, where we have a strict policy that all questions should [show evidence of prior research](https://psychology.meta.stackexchange.com/q/993). Please help us to help you and [edit] your question to provide more information on what you have read on this subject, what made you ask this question, and any problems you are having understanding your research. If you found nothing, what did you Google?
Chris Rogers
<short-term-memory>
Can overload of information affect short term memory?
Y.FES
# Can overload of information affect short term memory?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-03)

Can stress affect short term memory? If one is overloaded with a lot of information, can their short term memory be affected?

**Tags:** short-term-memory

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome to Psychology.SE.  You have asked 2 questions in one here.  Which do you want answered in this question?  Is it on overload of information or stress? We also work differently to most SE sites, where we have a strict policy that all questions should [show evidence of prior research](https://psychology.meta.stackexchange.com/q/993). Please help us to help you and [edit] your question to provide more information on what you have read on this subject, what made you ask this question, and any problems you are having understanding your research. If you found nothing, what did you Google?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-12-05. Score: 1

If you look at overloading from overuse of directed attention then I would say yes, and I would say yes it does lead to fatigue and stress, which is why you need to redress with Attention Restoration Therapy (Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989, & Kaplan, 1985). If we look at an extreme example of stress, PTSD, then I would say yes it affects our cognitive abilities (Richard S, Lazarus and Judith Blackfield Cohen, 1977; Dowhrenwend, 2010).

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Welcome and +1 for a referenced answer. However, could you add a little bit more background, especially *how* overuse affects memory and how you relate 'overuse' to stress and PTSD?  
> **username_1**: To add to what @username_3 asked for, can you please also provide a reference list to allow others to know what articles Kaplan and Kaplan (1989), Dowhrenwend (2010), and Kaplan (1985) etc. are?  

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