Sensory Memory
Sensory memory is the “initial stage of stimuli perception.” (Orey, 2001). Its main purpose is to “screen incoming stimuli and process only those stimuli that are most relevant at the present time“ (Schraw & McCrudden, 2013). For example, when you drive a car, your brain is continuously taking in visual and auditory stimuli. Some of the stimuli is pertinent to the task at hand to ensure safe driving but other stimuli such as the music on the radio can be tuned out.
Schraw and McCrudden deem that our sensory memory is “limited to 5 – 7 discrete elements” of information at one given time and our brains only processes this information for “brief periods of time, usually on the order of ½ - 3 seconds” (2013). This stage of memory is “temporary limited which means the information stored here begins to decay if not transferred to the next stage” (Lutz & Huit, 2003). This happens in as “little as .5 second for visual stimuli and 3 seconds for auditory stimuli” (Lutz & Huit, 2003). During this stage, “researchers agree that information processing in sensory memory usually occurs to quickly for people to consciously control what they attend to” (Schraw & McCrudden, 2013). Therefore, in order for the information to transfer to short-term memory, the information must have an “interesting feature or the stimulus activates a known pattern” (Huit, 2003). The “matching of new stimuli to existing memory structure is a crucial factor in the acquisition of new knowledge (Lutz & Huit, 2003).
Schraw and McCrudden deem that our sensory memory is “limited to 5 – 7 discrete elements” of information at one given time and our brains only processes this information for “brief periods of time, usually on the order of ½ - 3 seconds” (2013). This stage of memory is “temporary limited which means the information stored here begins to decay if not transferred to the next stage” (Lutz & Huit, 2003). This happens in as “little as .5 second for visual stimuli and 3 seconds for auditory stimuli” (Lutz & Huit, 2003). During this stage, “researchers agree that information processing in sensory memory usually occurs to quickly for people to consciously control what they attend to” (Schraw & McCrudden, 2013). Therefore, in order for the information to transfer to short-term memory, the information must have an “interesting feature or the stimulus activates a known pattern” (Huit, 2003). The “matching of new stimuli to existing memory structure is a crucial factor in the acquisition of new knowledge (Lutz & Huit, 2003).