Sensory memory is the first and briefest stage of memory, holding a raw snapshot of sensory input (sights, sounds, touch) for less than a few seconds after the stimulus ends; in the Atkinson-Shiffrin model, attention moves a small piece of it into short-term memory while the rest fades.
Sensory memory is your brain's holding cell for raw sensory information. For a fraction of a second after a stimulus ends, you keep an almost-complete copy of what you just saw, heard, or felt. Think of it as a buffer, like the brief afterimage when you wave a sparkler in the dark. The image isn't really on your retina anymore; it's in iconic memory.
Each sense has its own version. Iconic memory holds visual input for roughly a quarter to half a second. Echoic memory holds sounds a bit longer, around 3-4 seconds, which is why you can answer "what did you say?" before the person repeats themselves. Haptic memory does the same for touch. Sensory memory has huge capacity but almost no duration, and most of it is never encoded. Attention is the filter that decides which tiny slice gets passed along to short-term memory; everything else simply decays.
Sensory memory is the entry point of the entire memory system you study in Topics 5.1 (Introduction to Memory), 5.2 (Encoding), 5.3 (Storing), and 5.6 (Biological Bases of Memory). The Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model, a staple of AP Psych, runs sensory memory → short-term memory → long-term memory, and the exam expects you to know what each stage does, how long it lasts, and how information moves between stages. Sensory memory is the stage where attention does its gatekeeping. If you don't attend to something, it never gets encoded, which is why you can stare at a page while zoning out and remember nothing. Understanding that link between attention and encoding sets up almost everything else in the memory topics.
Keep studying AP Psychology Unit 5
Iconic and Echoic Memory (Unit 5)
These are the two subtypes the exam loves to test. Iconic is the visual flash (under a second); echoic is the sound trace (a few seconds). Sensory memory is the category; iconic and echoic are the flavors.
Encoding and Attention (Unit 5)
Sensory memory is where selective attention earns its paycheck. Only the information you attend to gets encoded into short-term memory, which connects directly to phenomena like the cocktail party effect, where your name cuts through background noise you weren't consciously processing.
Baddeley's Working Memory Model (Unit 5)
Once attention pulls information out of sensory memory, working memory takes over and actively manipulates it. Knowing where sensory memory hands off to the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad helps you keep the two models straight.
Storing and Memory Duration (Unit 5)
Topic 5.3 compares the three stores by capacity and duration. Sensory memory is the extreme case in both directions, with enormous capacity but the shortest duration, which makes it a perfect contrast point in MCQ stems.
Sensory memory shows up mostly in multiple-choice questions about the Atkinson-Shiffrin model. Typical stems ask you to identify the primary role of sensory memory (briefly holding raw input so attention can select what to encode), to match a scenario to the right stage (an afterimage means iconic, a lingering sound means echoic), or to explain why sensory memory matters in the multi-store model. You may also see duration and capacity comparisons across the three memory stores. No released FRQ has used the term verbatim, but the AAQ and EBQ formats can hand you a memory study where naming the correct stage of processing is part of applying the concept correctly. The move that earns points is precision. Don't just say "memory," say which store, how long it lasts, and what moves information forward.
Sensory memory is the automatic, pre-attention snapshot that lasts under a few seconds and requires no effort. Short-term memory is what you get after attention selects something, lasting about 15-30 seconds without rehearsal and holding roughly 7 items. Quick test: if the person hasn't noticed the information yet, it's sensory memory. If they're actively holding or rehearsing it, it's short-term.
Sensory memory is the first stage of the Atkinson-Shiffrin model, briefly holding raw sensory input before any encoding happens.
It has very high capacity but extremely short duration, with iconic (visual) memory lasting under a second and echoic (auditory) memory lasting about 3-4 seconds.
Attention is the gatekeeper that moves a small portion of sensory memory into short-term memory; everything unattended decays and is lost.
Each sense has its own register: iconic for vision, echoic for hearing, and haptic for touch.
On the exam, match scenarios to the right register, like a sparkler afterimage pointing to iconic memory or replaying someone's last sentence pointing to echoic memory.
Sensory memory is the briefest stage of memory, holding a near-complete copy of sensory input for a few seconds or less after the stimulus ends. In the Atkinson-Shiffrin model, it feeds short-term memory through attention.
Sensory memory is automatic and lasts under a few seconds, holding raw, unprocessed input. Short-term memory holds attended information for about 15-30 seconds and roughly 7 items, and you can extend it with rehearsal.
Not exactly. Iconic memory is the visual subtype of sensory memory. Echoic memory (sound) and haptic memory (touch) are also forms of sensory memory, so iconic is one piece of the bigger category.
It depends on the sense. Iconic memory lasts roughly a quarter to half a second, while echoic memory hangs on for about 3-4 seconds, which is why you can mentally replay something someone just said.
It's the entry point of the whole system. Sensory memory holds incoming input just long enough for attention to select what's worth encoding into short-term memory, and without that brief buffer nothing would ever get processed further.