Echoic memory

It is sensory memory for auditory information. When people hear something, echoic memory makes an auditory image or recording of that sound and stores it briefly. Pure sounds can be held for brief intervals to help auditory perception

This recording called an echo. Echoes have a much longer duration than visual icons. Echoes last up to 2 seconds after ears stop hearing the sound.

Echoic memory is widely believed to play a role in language processing, perhaps to help retain exact replicas of sounds during sentence and word processing.

Researchers discovered that the length of echoic memory increases as children grow into adults.

The processing of information persisting as echoic memory is called ‘feature extraction’.

An important aspect of this kind of processing is that the auditory information being processed gets organized in a very basic way.
Echoic memory

Storage in human memory

Memory storage is the process of retaining information in memory. But not all info0rmation becomes an enduring or long term memory.

Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1971 proposed that memory is made up of three information stores.
*Sensory memory
*Short term memory
*Long term memory

Incoming information from sensory elements is placed into sensory storage for a brief period.

The apparent function of sensory memory is to retain a record of the sensory event long enough for perceptual mechanisms. It preserves information in its original sensory form for a brief time, usually only a fraction of a second. It is stored in the human brain at closely linked neuronal cells.

Sensory information such as scene, sound, touch, and smell received by receptors for temporary storage in sensory registers.

If the sensory information is deemed to be important, the store gate acts as a trigger and instruct the memory stacks to permanently store the information. Several facts about short-term memory can be established. 

Short term memory also called the working memory. The information from sensory subsystem is sent to the working memory.

Working memory has a limited capacity. About five to nine items can be stored in the working memory. It can maintain unrehearsed information for up to about 20 seconds.

The third stage on the information storage sequence is usually referred to a long term memory. Information items are expected to be stored permanently or for a relatively long time.

Unlike sensory and short term memory, which decay rapidly, long term memory can store information indefinitely.
Storage in human memory

Encoding stage of memory

There are three different memory stages for the conscious processing of memories.
*A flash of input information though sense – sensory memory
*Some information encoded into short term memory. Short-term memory may come into play by providing a context in which the stimulus is encoded, and it is used again in response maintenance.
*Some information is encoded into long term memory

Any information from outside world to enter memory, it must undergo a process of memory encoding or conversion into a form than be stored in memory. Later retrieve it when it is needed. Encoding refers to initial learning or acquisitions of information.

Encoding is akin to the process by which a computer converts keyed input into bits of information than can be stored in its memory.

Human normal perception of objects and events requires considerable encoding, but further encoding processes can produce memory representations of objects and events that differs from those arising from perceptual processes alone.

Two major brain regions play a role in encoding: the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Numerous studies have indicated that the hippocampal system is activated during encoding of faces, words, scenes or objects.
Encoding stage of memory