This is sometimes called the pigeon-hole model of computation. This is because we think of memory as a series of boxes, perhaps with labels, perhaps just with numeric addresses. The computer moves from instruction to instruction, pulling values out of boxes, acting on them, and pushing them back into boxes. When are are all finished, the contents of a specific set of boxes will yield the results we seek.
This model is a rather accurate picture of the actual workings of the computer. However, it is not particularly useful. Very few of us solve our problems in real life using pigeon-holes. So we can not use our experience from real life to help us solve problems expressed in this fashion.