Plain English Meaning

It's where things you have truly learned are kept, so you can use them later without having to look them up or think hard about them.

Full Definition

The mental system that stores information durably over extended periods — from hours to a lifetime — making it available for recall, recognition, and use long after it was first learned. In aviation training, long-term memory is where consolidated knowledge, procedures, and motor skills reside once they have been practiced and reinforced enough to no longer require conscious rehearsal.

Context Anchor

Seen in aviation instructor discussions about practice methods, especially when comparing short-term performance during a lesson with real retention after time has passed.

Derivation

From 'long-term' (lasting over a long period) and 'memory' (the faculty of storing and recalling information). The phrase is used in to distinguish durable storage from short-term or , which holds information only briefly.