The information people receive via sensation is stored in which type of memory just long enough to be transferred to short-term memory?

• A. Implicit memory
• B. Short-term memory
• C. Sensory memory
• D. Long-term memory

Answer: (C)

Sensory memory stores information from sensation for a very brief moment, acting as a buffer that lets the brain hold a tiny trace long enough to decide whether to move it into short-term memory. This trace is modality-specific (visual traces are called iconic memory and auditory traces are called echoic memory) and lasts only a fraction of a second to a few seconds, depending on the sense. If attention is paid to the input, the trace is transferred into short-term memory; if not, it quickly fades. Implicit memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory describe other kinds of storage with different roles and durations, but they are not the initial brief buffer for raw sensory input.