sensory memory

(noun)

The brief storage (in memory) of information experienced by the senses; typically only lasts up to a few seconds.

Related Terms

Examples of sensory memory in the following topics:

  • Sensory Memory

    • Sensory memory allows individuals to retain impressions of sensory information for a brief time after the original stimulus has ceased.
    • Sensory memory is an automatic response considered to be outside of cognitive control.
    • In sensory memory, no manipulation of the incoming information occurs as it is transferred quickly to working memory.
    • Echoic memory is the branch of sensory memory used by the auditory system.
    • Haptic memory is the branch of sensory memory used by the sense of touch.

  • Introduction to the Process and Types of Memory

    • Sensory memory allows individuals to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimulus has ceased.
    • This is because of "iconic memory," the visual sensory store.
    • Two other types of sensory memory have been extensively studied: echoic memory (the auditory sensory store) and haptic memory (the tactile sensory store).
    • Sensory memory is not involved in higher cognitive functions like short- and long-term memory; it is not consciously controlled.
    • The role of sensory memory is to provide a detailed representation of our entire sensory experience for which relevant pieces of information are extracted by short-term memory and processed by working memory.

  • Neural Correlates of Memory Storage

    • It is theorized that memories are stored in neural networks in various parts of the brain associated with different types of memory, including short-term memory, sensory memory, and long-term memory.
    • Encoding of working memory involves the activation of individual neurons induced by sensory input.
    • The temporal and occipital lobes are associated with sensation and are thus involved in sensory memory.
    • Sensory memory is the briefest form of memory, with no storage capability.
    • The temporal lobe is important for sensory memory, while the frontal lobe is associated with both short- and long-term memory.

  • Improve Listener Engagement, Comprehension, and Memory

    • Sensory enhancements may help your audience to become more engaged and to better understand and remember your presentation.
    • Improving engagement, comprehension, and memory of your presentation can be accomplished by using sensory enhancements, or visual aids.
    • This is most effective when a sensory enhancement is used as a method of repeating an idea.
    • Sensory enhancements are also a powerful way of enhancing the memory of your audience.
    • Discuss how sensory enhancements can improve listener engagement, comprehension, and memory

  • Introduction

    • The three components of the IP model is the sensory receptor (SR), short-term memory (STM), and long-term memory (LTM).
    • Information is moved from the sensory receptor to short-term memory and compared to information stored in the long-term memory.
    • Caption: The illustration above represents my coffee cup example.Light reflects off the cup and into the eye.The image is then transferred through the optic nerve to the sensory register.From the sensory register, the image is moved into Short-term Memory (STM) as information about the cup is drawn from Long-term Memory (LTM).The process of elaboration occurs when information is retrieved from the LTM in order to link to the new information.I would like to thank Liyan Song for her work on the Flash model shown above.
    • The Sensory Register would include input devices like CDs.
    • Short Term Memory includes the Central Processing Unit.

  • Sensory Registers

    • The best understood of the sensory registers (SRs) are for hearing (echoic) and seeing (iconic).
    • In the cup example, light reflecting off the cup hits my eye; the image is transferred through my optic nerve to the sensory register.
    • If I do not attend to it, it fades from this memory store and is lost.
    • Each memory stage has four attributes: representation, capacity, duration, and cause of forgetting.
    • For the visual sensory register, for example, representation is iconic-- limited to the field of vision, and lasts for about 250 milliseconds.

  • Short-Term and Working Memory

    • Short-term memory, which includes working memory, stores information for a brief period of recall for things that happened recently.
    • Unlike sensory memory, it is capable of temporary storage.
    • Though the term "working memory" is often used synonymously with "short-term memory," working memory is related to but actually distinct from short-term memory.
    • It also links the working memory to the long-term memory, controls the storage of long-term memory, and manages memory retrieval from storage.
    • This is a function of time; that is, the longer the memory stays in the short-term memory the more likely it is to be placed in the long-term memory.

  • Long-Term Memory

    • Long-term memory is the final, semi-permanent stage of memory.
    • Unlike sensory and short-term memory, long-term memory has a theoretically infinite capacity, and information can remain there indefinitely.
    • Long-term memory can be broken down into two categories: explicit and implicit memory.
    • Episodic memory is used for more contextualized memories.
    • Contrast the different ways memories can be stored in long-term memory

  • Repressed Memories

    • Traumatic memories are encoded differently than memories of ordinary experiences.
    • The limbic system is the part of the brain that is in charge of giving emotional significance to sensory inputs; however, the limbic system (particularly one of its components, the hippocampus) is also important to the storage and retrieval of long-term memories.
    • The end result is that the memory is encoded as an affective (i.e., relating to or influenced by the emotions) and sensory imprint, rather than a memory that includes a full account of what happened.
    • Memories of events are always a mix of factual traces of sensory information overlaid with emotions, mingled with interpretation and filled in with imaginings.
    • Given research showing how unreliable memory is, it is possible that any attempt to "recover" a repressed memory runs the risk of implanting false memories.

  • The Fallibility of Memory

    • Memory is not perfect.
    • However, without use, or with the addition of new memories, old memories can decay.
    • Encoding is the process of converting sensory input into a form able to be processed and stored in the memory.
    • All of these factors impact how memories are prioritized and how accessible they will be when they are stored in long-term memory.
    • Our memories are not infallible: over time, without use, memories decay and we lose the ability to retrieve them.