Echoic memory
Encyclopedia
Echoic memory
is a type of sensory memory and auditory in nature; a component of sensory memory
(SM) that is specific to retaining auditory information. Unlike visual memory, in which our eyes can scan the stimuli over and over, the auditory stimuli cannot be scanned over and over. Auditory stimuli is received by the ear one at a time before it can be processed and understood. For instance, hearing the radio is very different from reading a magazine. A person can only hear the radio once at a given time, while the magazine can be read over and over again. It can be said that the echoic memory is like a "holding tank" concept, because a sound is unprocessed(or held back) until the following sound it heard, then only can it be made meaningful .This particular sensory store is capable of storing large amounts of auditory information that is only retained for a short period of time (3–4 seconds). This echoic sound resonates in the mind and is replayed for this brief amount of time shortly after the presentation of auditory stimuli.
’s partial report studies of the visual sensory memory store, researchers began investigating its counterpart in the auditory domain. The term echoic memory was coined in 1967 by Ulric Neisser
to describe this brief representation of acoustic information. It was initially studied using similar partial report paradigms to those utilized by Sperling; however, modern neuropsychological techniques have enabled the development of estimations of the capacity, duration, and location of the echoic memory store. Using Sperling's model as an analogue, researchers continue to apply his work to the auditory sensory store using partial and whole report experiments. They found that the echoic store has a duration of up to 4 seconds, and in the absence of interference has been shown to last up to 20 seconds.
consists of the visuospatial sketchpad which is related to iconic memory
, and a phonological loop which attends to auditory information processing in two ways. The first is a phonological store which has the capacity to retain information for 3-4 seconds before decay, which is a much longer duration than iconic memory (which is less than 1000ms). The second is a sub-vocal rehearsal process to keep refreshing the memory trace by the using one’s "inner voice". However, this model fails to provide a detailed description of the relationship between the initial sensory input and ensuing memory processes.
A short-term memory model proposed by Nelson Cowan
attempts to address this problem by describing a verbal sensory memory input and storage in more detail. It suggests a pre-attentive sensory storage system that can hold a large amount of accurate information over a short period of time and consists of an initial phase input of 200-400ms and a secondary phase that transfers the information into a more long term memory store to be integrated into working memory that starts to decay after 10-20s.
tasks, future researchers were interested in testing the same phenomenon for the auditory sensory store. Echoic memory is measured by behavioural tasks where participants are asked to repeat a sequence of tones, words, or syllables that were presented to them, usually requiring attention and motivation. The most famous partial report task was conducted by presenting participants with an auditory stimulus in the left, right, and both ears simultaneously. Then they were asked to report spatial location and category name of each stimulus. Results showed that spatial location was far easier to recall than semantic information when inhibiting information from one ear over the other. Consistent with results on iconic memory tasks, performance on the partial report conditions were far superior to the whole report condition. In addition, a decrease in performance was observed as the interstimulus interval
(ISI) (length of time between presentation of the stimulus and recall) increased.
(MMN) tasks, which record changes in activation in the brain by use of electroencephalography
(EEG).
This records elements of auditory event-related potentials (ERP) of brain activity elicited 150-200ms after a stimulus. This stimulus is an unattended, infrequent, "oddball" or deviant stimulus presented among a sequence of standard stimuli, thereby comparing the deviant stimulus to a memory trace.
contralateral to the ear of presentation. This echoic memory storage involves several different brain areas, due to the different processes it is involved in. The majority of brain regions involved are located in the prefrontal cortex
(PFC) as this is where the executive control is located, and is responsible for attentional control. The phonological store and the rehearsal system appear to be a left-hemisphere based memory system as increased brain activity has been observed in these areas. The major regions involved are the left posterior ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
(VLPFC), the left premotor cortex
(PMC), and the left posterior parietal cortex
(PPC). Within the VLPFC, Broca’s area is the main location responsible for verbal rehearsal and the articulatory process. The dorsal PMC is used in rhythmic organization and rehearsal, and finally the PPC shows a role in localizing objects in space.
The cortical areas in the brain believed to be involved with auditory sensory memory exhibited by MMN response have not been localized specifically. However results have shown comparative activation in the superior temporal gyrus
(STG) and in the inferior temporal gyrus
(ITG).
Findings of a (MMN) study, also suggest that the duration of auditory sensory memory increases with age, significantly between the ages of two and six years old from 500-5000ms. Children 2 years of age exhibited an MMN response in ISI between 500ms and 1000ms. Children 3 years old have a MMN response from 1 to 2 seconds, 4 year olds over 2 seconds, and 6 year old children from 3 to 5 seconds. These developmental and cognitive changes and that occur at a young age, and extends into adulthood until eventually decreasing again at old age.
Researchers have found shortened echoic memory duration in former late talkers (LT’s), children with Precordial catch syndrome
(PCS), and oral clefts, with information decaying before 2000 ms. However this reduced echoic memory is not predictive for language difficulties in adulthood.
People with attributed unilateral damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
and temporal-parietal cortex after experiencing a stroke were measured using the a MMN test. For the control group the MMN amplitude was largest in the right hemisphere regardless if the tone was presented in the right or left ear.
MMN was greatly reduced for temporal-parietal damaged patients when the auditory stimulus was presented to the contralateral ear of the lesion side of the brain. This adheres to the theory of auditory sensory memory being stored in the contralateral auditory cortex of ear presentation. Further research on stroke victims with a reduced auditory memory store has shown that listening to daily music or audio books improved their echoic memory. This shows a positive effect of music in neural rehabilitation after brain damage.
is a type of sensory memory and auditory in nature; a component of sensory memory
Sensory memory
During every moment of an organism's life, sensory information is being taken in by sensory receptors and processed by the nervous system. Humans have five main senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Sensory memory allows individuals to retain impressions of sensory information after the...
(SM) that is specific to retaining auditory information. Unlike visual memory, in which our eyes can scan the stimuli over and over, the auditory stimuli cannot be scanned over and over. Auditory stimuli is received by the ear one at a time before it can be processed and understood. For instance, hearing the radio is very different from reading a magazine. A person can only hear the radio once at a given time, while the magazine can be read over and over again. It can be said that the echoic memory is like a "holding tank" concept, because a sound is unprocessed(or held back) until the following sound it heard, then only can it be made meaningful .This particular sensory store is capable of storing large amounts of auditory information that is only retained for a short period of time (3–4 seconds). This echoic sound resonates in the mind and is replayed for this brief amount of time shortly after the presentation of auditory stimuli.
Overview
Shortly after George SperlingGeorge Sperling
George Sperling is an American cognitive psychologist. He is a Distinguished Professor of both Cognitive Science and Neurobiology & Behavior at the University of California, Irvine. Sperling documented the existence of iconic memory...
’s partial report studies of the visual sensory memory store, researchers began investigating its counterpart in the auditory domain. The term echoic memory was coined in 1967 by Ulric Neisser
Ulric Neisser
Ulric Neisser is an American psychologist and member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a faculty member at Cornell University. In 1995, he headed an American Psychological Association task force that reviewed The Bell Curve and related controversies in the study of intelligence. The task...
to describe this brief representation of acoustic information. It was initially studied using similar partial report paradigms to those utilized by Sperling; however, modern neuropsychological techniques have enabled the development of estimations of the capacity, duration, and location of the echoic memory store. Using Sperling's model as an analogue, researchers continue to apply his work to the auditory sensory store using partial and whole report experiments. They found that the echoic store has a duration of up to 4 seconds, and in the absence of interference has been shown to last up to 20 seconds.
Early Work
Baddeley's model of working memoryBaddeley's Model of Working Memory
Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch proposed a model of working memory in 1974, in an attempt to describe a more accurate model of short-term memory....
consists of the visuospatial sketchpad which is related to iconic memory
Iconic memory
Iconic memory is the visual sensory memory register pertaining to the visual domain. It is a component of the visual memory system which also includes visual short term memory and long term memory . Iconic memory is described as a very brief . A small decrease in visual persistence occurs with age...
, and a phonological loop which attends to auditory information processing in two ways. The first is a phonological store which has the capacity to retain information for 3-4 seconds before decay, which is a much longer duration than iconic memory (which is less than 1000ms). The second is a sub-vocal rehearsal process to keep refreshing the memory trace by the using one’s "inner voice". However, this model fails to provide a detailed description of the relationship between the initial sensory input and ensuing memory processes.
A short-term memory model proposed by Nelson Cowan
Nelson Cowan
Nelson Cowan is the Curators' Professor of Psychology at the University of Missouri. He specializes in working memory, and is known for positing an integrated model of working memory in which representations held in working memory are an activated subset of the representations held in long-term...
attempts to address this problem by describing a verbal sensory memory input and storage in more detail. It suggests a pre-attentive sensory storage system that can hold a large amount of accurate information over a short period of time and consists of an initial phase input of 200-400ms and a secondary phase that transfers the information into a more long term memory store to be integrated into working memory that starts to decay after 10-20s.
Partial & Whole Report
Following Sperling's (1960) procedures on iconic memoryIconic memory
Iconic memory is the visual sensory memory register pertaining to the visual domain. It is a component of the visual memory system which also includes visual short term memory and long term memory . Iconic memory is described as a very brief . A small decrease in visual persistence occurs with age...
tasks, future researchers were interested in testing the same phenomenon for the auditory sensory store. Echoic memory is measured by behavioural tasks where participants are asked to repeat a sequence of tones, words, or syllables that were presented to them, usually requiring attention and motivation. The most famous partial report task was conducted by presenting participants with an auditory stimulus in the left, right, and both ears simultaneously. Then they were asked to report spatial location and category name of each stimulus. Results showed that spatial location was far easier to recall than semantic information when inhibiting information from one ear over the other. Consistent with results on iconic memory tasks, performance on the partial report conditions were far superior to the whole report condition. In addition, a decrease in performance was observed as the interstimulus interval
Interstimulus interval
The interstimulus interval is the temporal interval between the offset of one stimulus to the onset of another. For instance, Max Wertheimer did experiments with two stationary, flashing lights that at some interstimulus intervals appeared to the subject as moving instead of stationary...
(ISI) (length of time between presentation of the stimulus and recall) increased.
Auditory Backward Recognition Masking
Auditory backward recognition masking (ABRM) is one of the most successful tasks in studying audition. It involves presenting participants with a brief target stimulus, followed by a second stimulus (the mask) after an (ISI). The amount of time the auditory information is available in memory is manipulated by the length of the ISI. Performance as indicated by accuracy of target information increases as the ISI increased to 250 ms. The mask doesn’t affect the amount of information obtained from the stimulus, but it acts as interference for further processing.Mismatch Negativity
A more objective, independent task capable of measuring auditory sensory memory that does not require focused attention are mismatch negativityMismatch negativity
The mismatch negativity or mismatch field is a component of the event-related potential to an odd stimulus in a sequence of stimuli. It arises from electrical activity in the brain and is studied within the field of cognitive neuroscience and psychology. It can occur in any sensory system, but...
(MMN) tasks, which record changes in activation in the brain by use of electroencephalography
Electroencephalography
Electroencephalography is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp. EEG measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain...
(EEG).
This records elements of auditory event-related potentials (ERP) of brain activity elicited 150-200ms after a stimulus. This stimulus is an unattended, infrequent, "oddball" or deviant stimulus presented among a sequence of standard stimuli, thereby comparing the deviant stimulus to a memory trace.
Neurological Basis
Auditory sensory memory has been found to be stored in the primary auditory cortexPrimary auditory cortex
The primary auditory cortex is the region of the brain that is responsible for the processing of auditory information. Corresponding roughly with Brodmann areas 41 and 42, it is located on the temporal lobe, and performs the basics of hearing—pitch and volume...
contralateral to the ear of presentation. This echoic memory storage involves several different brain areas, due to the different processes it is involved in. The majority of brain regions involved are located in the prefrontal cortex
Prefrontal cortex
The prefrontal cortex is the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain, lying in front of the motor and premotor areas.This brain region has been implicated in planning complex cognitive behaviors, personality expression, decision making and moderating correct social behavior...
(PFC) as this is where the executive control is located, and is responsible for attentional control. The phonological store and the rehearsal system appear to be a left-hemisphere based memory system as increased brain activity has been observed in these areas. The major regions involved are the left posterior ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
Prefrontal cortex
The prefrontal cortex is the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain, lying in front of the motor and premotor areas.This brain region has been implicated in planning complex cognitive behaviors, personality expression, decision making and moderating correct social behavior...
(VLPFC), the left premotor cortex
Premotor cortex
The premotor cortex is an area of motor cortex lying within the frontal lobe of the brain. It extends 3 mm anterior to the primary motor cortex, near the Sylvian fissure, before narrowing to approximately 1 mm near the medial longitudinal fissure, which serves as the posterior border for...
(PMC), and the left posterior parietal cortex
Posterior parietal cortex
The posterior parietal cortex plays an important role in producing planned movements. Before an effective movement can be initiated, the nervous system must know the original positions of the body parts that are to be moved, and the positions of any external objects with which the body is going to...
(PPC). Within the VLPFC, Broca’s area is the main location responsible for verbal rehearsal and the articulatory process. The dorsal PMC is used in rhythmic organization and rehearsal, and finally the PPC shows a role in localizing objects in space.
The cortical areas in the brain believed to be involved with auditory sensory memory exhibited by MMN response have not been localized specifically. However results have shown comparative activation in the superior temporal gyrus
Superior temporal gyrus
The superior temporal gyrus is one of three gyri in the temporal lobe of the human brain, which is located laterally to the head, situated somewhat above the external ear.The superior temporal gyrus is bounded by:* the lateral sulcus above;...
(STG) and in the inferior temporal gyrus
Inferior temporal gyrus
The inferior temporal gyrus is placed below the middle temporal sulcus, and is connected behind with the inferior occipital gyrus; it also extends around the infero-lateral border on to the inferior surface of the temporal lobe, where it is limited by the inferior sulcus...
(ITG).
Development
Age-related increases in activation within the neural structures responsible for echoic memory have been observed showing that with age comes increased proficiency in the processing auditory sensory information.Findings of a (MMN) study, also suggest that the duration of auditory sensory memory increases with age, significantly between the ages of two and six years old from 500-5000ms. Children 2 years of age exhibited an MMN response in ISI between 500ms and 1000ms. Children 3 years old have a MMN response from 1 to 2 seconds, 4 year olds over 2 seconds, and 6 year old children from 3 to 5 seconds. These developmental and cognitive changes and that occur at a young age, and extends into adulthood until eventually decreasing again at old age.
Researchers have found shortened echoic memory duration in former late talkers (LT’s), children with Precordial catch syndrome
Precordial catch syndrome
Precordial Catch Syndrome , also known as Texidor's twinge, is a common cause of chest pain complaints in children and adolescents. It also occurs, though less frequently, in adults. PCS manifests itself as a very intense, sharp pain, typically at the left side of the chest, which is worse when...
(PCS), and oral clefts, with information decaying before 2000 ms. However this reduced echoic memory is not predictive for language difficulties in adulthood.
Problems
Children with deficits in auditory memory have been shown to have developmental language disorders. These problems are difficult to assess since performance could be due to their inability to understand a given task, rather than a problem with their memory.People with attributed unilateral damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex , according to a more restricted definition, is roughly equivalent to Brodmann areas 9 and 46. According to a broader definition DL-PFC consists of the lateral portions of Brodmann areas 9 – 12, of areas 45, 46, and the superior part of area 47. These regions...
and temporal-parietal cortex after experiencing a stroke were measured using the a MMN test. For the control group the MMN amplitude was largest in the right hemisphere regardless if the tone was presented in the right or left ear.
MMN was greatly reduced for temporal-parietal damaged patients when the auditory stimulus was presented to the contralateral ear of the lesion side of the brain. This adheres to the theory of auditory sensory memory being stored in the contralateral auditory cortex of ear presentation. Further research on stroke victims with a reduced auditory memory store has shown that listening to daily music or audio books improved their echoic memory. This shows a positive effect of music in neural rehabilitation after brain damage.