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Memory Classes
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Memory Classes

Memory Classes
SENSORY MEMORY
  • The transitory retention of a primary sensory stimulus.
  • Lasts from a fraction of a second to a few seconds.
  • Visual sensory memory lasts a third of a second (every fraction of a second, our snapshot of the world is refreshed). Auditory sensory memory (aka echoic memory) lasts a few seconds (just as we ask people what they were saying we often hear them via our echoic memory).
SHORT-TERM MEMORY
  • Lasts for roughly 3 to 30 seconds.  Its decay begins within a few seconds.
  • Short-term memory divides into automatic processing, in which a memory is not consciously manipulated, and effortful processing (or working memory), in which a memory is actively maintained through various processes, such as subvocal rehearsal.
  • Working memory relies on at least two different storage mechanisms: the phonological loop - stores acoustic information through subvocal rehearsal of words or sounds, and the visuospatial sketchpad - stores visual and spatial information about object characteristics and localization.
LONG-TERM MEMORY
  • Memories older than 30 seconds to our most remote memories.
  • Parsed based on its sensory form (ie, verbal, visual, olfactory, etc.), and whether or not there is awareness of the memory.
  • Declarative (aka explicit) memories are consciously recalled (eg, reciting a country's capitals) and nondeclarative (aka implicit) memories are those that are unconsciously retrieved (eg, riding a bicycle).
  • Declarative memory is most commonly subdivided into episodic and semantic memory.
  • Episodic memory refers to our recollection of episodes, typically autobiographical episodes, which have a strong contextual stamp, whereas semantic memory refers to our knowledge stores: our collection of facts or information, which have no contextual stamp.
  • Nondeclarative memory encompasses several different unconscious forms of memory - three prominent forms of them are:
    • Procedural memory (our skills learning)
    • Priming (improved ability to identify recently perceived stimuli in comparison to new stimuli)
    • Classical conditioning (the transformation of a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus with a conditioned response)

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