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What Is Echoic Memory?

Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen

Echoic memory, or auditory sensory memory, is part of the short-term memory and refers to the way the brain can take an exact copy of what is heard and hold it for very short periods, roughly two to four seconds. The term is credited to Ulric Neisser, and he is even better known for doing the foundational research on this form of remembering. Since Neisser’s work, additional studies on this type of memory continue to reveal new information about its functions.

When a person hears a sound, like a few notes of music or a short sentence, echoic memory engages and the brain keeps a perfect replica of that sound for a brief period. People may even defer paying attention to the sound’s meaning when they hear it, and could instead interpret the brain’s copy. For instance, sometimes a person isn’t paying full attention to another’s conversation. He might ask a speaker to repeat something, and then realize he knows what was said before the speaker can say it again. This is echoic memory in action, producing the copy of the sound so the person can catch up on listening or be able to briefly think about a sound’s significance.

Echoic memory refers to the brain's ability to keep a replica of sound that is heard for a brief period of time.
Echoic memory refers to the brain's ability to keep a replica of sound that is heard for a brief period of time.

Auditory short-term memory is often compared to visual or iconic memory. This is the brain’s ability to keep exact copies of an image. Comparatively, auditory sensory memory is much longer. Iconic memory lasts for less than a second, whereas echoic memory may reproduce a short sound for up to four seconds.

George Sperling performed the early studies on iconic memory in the 1960s. These became the blueprint for evaluating this type of memory. In 1967, Ulric Neisser designed similar tests and reporting strategies to those Sperling had used, in order to gain descriptive information about auditory sensory memory.

A person's echoic memory capabilities may increase as they grow.
A person's echoic memory capabilities may increase as they grow.

What Neisser discovered was that people might be able to exactly remember up to two seconds of auditory information. Additionally, each sound copy could exist for up to four seconds. Later, scientists had access to specialized brain scanning equipment and designed experiments to visualize the areas of the brain associated with echoic memory. The greatest activity during tests of this type was in the prefrontal cortex, which is where most other auditory signals are processed.

Echoic memory is a type of short-term memory.
Echoic memory is a type of short-term memory.

Other research into short-term auditory memory has shown that people appear to increase their echoic memory to higher second times as they grow. Therefore, a toddler’s auditory sensory memory isn’t as long as a teenager’s. Some of this ability to produce and keep copies of sounds tends to deteriorate with advanced aging, however.

Researchers are also focused on the implication of having an impaired echoic memory. The inability to retain copies of sounds for short periods has been linked to speech impairments. Individuals who lack this function may also suffer from a variety of communicative deficits.

Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen

Tricia has a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and has been a frequent TheHealthBoard contributor for many years. She is especially passionate about reading and writing, although her other interests include medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion. Tricia lives in Northern California and is currently working on her first novel.

Learn more...
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen

Tricia has a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and has been a frequent TheHealthBoard contributor for many years. She is especially passionate about reading and writing, although her other interests include medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion. Tricia lives in Northern California and is currently working on her first novel.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

Markerrag

This must be what husbands use without realizing it. For example, a wife goes on about having dinner with her mother for about 10 minutes and, at the end of that conversation, throws in something more relevant to the household and asks the husband what he thinks. The husband has largely been tuning out the conversation while watching football and realizes he knew exactly what the wife was asking when he asks her to repeat herself.

Of course, the husband gets in trouble and that leads one to wonder -- is it easier to tap into this type of memory when needed?

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    • Echoic memory refers to the brain's ability to keep a replica of sound that is heard for a brief period of time.
      By: slasnyi
      Echoic memory refers to the brain's ability to keep a replica of sound that is heard for a brief period of time.
    • A person's echoic memory capabilities may increase as they grow.
      By: JenKedCo
      A person's echoic memory capabilities may increase as they grow.
    • Echoic memory is a type of short-term memory.
      By: KBF MEDIA
      Echoic memory is a type of short-term memory.
    • Echoic memory tends to deteriorate with advanced age.
      By: Gianfranco Bella
      Echoic memory tends to deteriorate with advanced age.