Memory for sensory information that is stored briefly in its original sensory form. go to glossary index

Sensory experiences stored temporarily in memory.

Sensory memory is our ability to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimulus has ceased. It refers to items detected by the sensory receptors which are retained temporarily in the sensory registers and which have a large capacity for unprocessed information but are only able to hold accurate images of sensory information momentarily. The two types of sensory memory that have been most explored are iconic and echoic memory.