Memory: The Three Types Of Memory?

Types of Memory “Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things are you, and the things you never want to lose” – Kevin Arnold. Memories are the most puzzling part of the brain. Yet, it’s what makes us who we are, recognizes family and friends, and is essentially the most important cognitive process. Memory, the process of storing and retrieving information in the brain, consists of three main types that all have their own particular mode of operation; sensory, short-term, and long-term. But to understand each type and the function it serves we must look deeper into these categories. A memory that lasts less than one second? Is that even heard of? Sensory memory is the shortest element of memory. It is the “ultra-short term memory” that typically lasts 1/5-1/2 of a second after the perception of something (Mastin). Sensory memory retains information after the original stimuli have ended. “It acts as a kind of buffer for stimuli received through the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch”. The sensory memory for visual stimuli is sometimes known as the iconic memory, the memory for hearing stimuli is known as the echoic memory, and that for touch as the haptic memory. An

Long-term memory is remembering anything you do that lasts more than just a few minutes. Stronger memories allow you to recall events, daily procedures at a job, or a fact. For example, remembering something like your phone number or address. Weaker memories only come to mind when through reminding. Any memories stored in your long-term memory do just not just sit in your mind untouched, instead you revisit the memory over time and merge it with other memories incorporated with what others tell you about the memory. As a result your long-term memories aren’t always constant nor reliable. It is believed that our memories don’t decay over time, but just harder to