Sensory Memory, Retrieval Failure and Aphasia - Essay Example

? (Teacher) Sensory Memory, Retrieval Failure and Aphasia Sensory Memory Sensory memory is defined as short term memory that comes from the senses which is “forgotten within a few seconds” (Lynch). Sensory memory is actually the memory a person has of what he has just seen, heard and touched. This memory usually comes off in a short while. For visual sensory memory, or iconic memory, the length of the memory is usually less than half a second (Lynch). Iconic memory usually includes instances where one sees something ordinary like a woman walking down the street. Even after the woman passes by and is not anymore in sight, the memory of this woman remains in the mind. If not attended to, iconic memory, just like any other sensory memory, is gone, but if attention is given, it becomes a working memory and thus stays relatively longer than a sensory memory (“Human Memory”). This happens if that woman is beautiful and the man who sees her wishes to remember her. On the other hand, for echoic memory, which is auditory sensory memory, the memory of the sound usually lasts a few seconds (Lynch). This usually happens when someone hears something like some particular news on TV while the listener is doing something else, then right after the TV is turned off, the memory stays in the mind for a few seconds. If the news was about an approaching typhoon, the listener may suddenly tell his mom, “Hey mom, it said on TV that the typhoon is coming at 6 p.m. and it’s gonna bring with it some hail and…” So far, the echoic memory is gone the moment you do not remember anymore. Still, another type of sensory memory is haptic memory, or tactile sensory memory (“Memory Class”). This is something a man gets from the feel of a girlfriend’s kiss. The moment the man thinks he wants to have another kiss, it is a signal that the haptic memory may have come off and now he cannot remember the feeling anymore. Sensory memory happens everyday not only in my life but in everyone else’s as well, just like in the examples I have stated above. In my case, sometimes the elements of my daily routine become a part of the iconic and echoic memory that I experience. I may, for example, remember what I have eaten for breakfast until I finish brushing my teeth but try to ask me about it after work and I have no more memory of it. Echoic memory is what I often experience whenever I listen to the radio and turn it off before I turn in for the night. I have noticed that even as I am beginning to close my eyes I can still hear myself singing the chorus part of the last song I heard playing on the radio, but ask me about it when I wake up and I can seldom if ever recall what it is. Haptic memory is also one thing I experience at times. At the office, sometimes I shake hands with a client and I could feel either the wetness of his hand or the tightness of his grip. Nevertheless, after a short while, when we have got down to business, I honestly do not have any more memory of such a grip nor do I even remember shaking hands with that person. As to sensory memories, my experiences are just the same as everyone else’s. Retrieval Failure In psychology, retrieval failure refers to one of the theories of forgetting. In retrieval failure, “information is not lost, but that the right cues are not being used” (“Memory,” BBC). According to the retrieval failure theory of forgetting, a person may have stored a particular information in his brain but has obviously perhaps not gone back to it for quite some time. Therefore, when the moment arises for him to retrieve it, he cannot because the cues are just not right. Usually a person knows that he knows the information but just simply cannot bring himself to say it. At this particular point, he searches not exactly for the information but for the right cues that will make him remember it. In my case, I usually experience retrieval failure when the cues just cannot bring out a particular piece of information. I usually experience something like what I am about to say is already at the tip of my tongue but I just cannot bring myself to retrieve the information. One day, my friend asked me what was the title of that movie we watched sometime in December last year. I knew it was a horror movie and I knew we were both wearing yellow when we watched it. Unfortunately, however, I really could not remember what the title was. After a mental struggle of around ten minutes, we both gave up. We then went to a nearby fast food and as we were having our hamburgers, I realized it was The Last Exorcism that we watched that time. I remembered it when I saw another horror movie in a magazine with the same theme. That was the right cue I was waiting for. Somehow, this particular experience gave me the idea that without the right cue, something may not be remembered even for a lifetime! Aphasia Aphasia is a disorder characterized by problems in speech and listening comprehension brought about by a “damage to portions of the brain that are responsible for language” (“Aphasia,” NIH-NIDCD). If the Wernicke’s area is affected, fluent aphasia occurs. This is characterized by “speaking in long sentences that have no meaning, adding unnecessary words, and even creating made up words” (“Aphasia,” NIH-NIDCD). If the Broca’s area is damaged, non-fluent aphasia takes over and this particular type of aphasia is recognized through symptoms like being able to understand another’s speech pretty well but unintentionally speaking “short phrases that make sense but are produced with great effort” (“Aphasia,” NIH-NIDCD). Aside from these two types of aphasia, a global type may occasionally occur. The symptoms are also combined in this case. Aphasia may not appeal much to many people as the disease is rare. However, the topic appeals to me as it reminds me of a neighbor’s son. John seemed like a normal seven-year-old kid until one would hear him speak. After a car accident that created a huge impact on his head and almost killed him, he survived but with some sort of speech difficulties. The parents were, however, fairly content at the fact that their son survived the accident and thought that poor John was simply trying to get over the trauma, which they considered the most likely explanation for the impaired speech. Three years has passed and it was still the same. The parents finally decided to see the family doctor and when he recommended a neurologist to them, the truth came out. It was non-fluent aphasia. This particular experience somehow taught me one thing – that not all signs of speech impairment are due to some emotional factor like fear, nervousness or emotional trauma. Perhaps at times it pays to have the doctor check on you once in a while as the unsuspected abnormal behavior may have a physiological cause. Works Cited “Aphasia.” Voice, Speech and Language. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. 2008. Web. 5 May 2011. “Human Memory.” Topics. Georgia Tech University. 2011. Web. 5 May 2011. Lynch, Patrick. “Sensory Memory.” Psychology. Experiment-Resources.com. 2011. Web. 4 May 2011. “Memory Class and its Divisions.” Articles. School of Phenomenal Memory. 2009. Web. 6 May 2011. “Memory: Forgetting and Remembering.” Human Behavior. British Broadcasting Corporation. 10 Oct 2006. Web. 5 May 2011. Read More