Editing Iconic memory (section)

== Overview ==

The occurrence of a sustained physiological image of an object after its physical offset has been observed by many individuals throughout history.  One of the earliest documented accounts of the phenomenon was by [[Aristotle]] who proposed  that [[afterimage]]s were involved in the experience of a dream.<ref name ="Allen">{{cite journal | title = The persistence of vision | journal = American Journal of Physiological Optics | year = 1926 | first = Frank | last = Allen | volume = 7 | pages = 439–457}}</ref>  Natural observation of the light trail produced by glowing ember at the end of a quickly moving stick sparked the interest of researchers in the 1700s and 1800s.  They became the first to begin [[empirical]] studies on this phenomenon<ref name = "Allen" /> which later became known as [[Persistence of vision|visible persistence]].<ref name = "Coltheart"/> In the 1900s, the role of visible persistence in memory gained considerable attention due to its hypothesized role as a pre-[[categorical perception|categorical]] representation of visual information in [[visual short-term memory]] (VSTM). In 1960, [[George Sperling]] began his classic partial-report experiments to confirm the existence of visual sensory memory and some of its characteristics including capacity and duration.<ref name="Sperling"/> It was not until 1967 that [[Ulric Neisser]] termed this quickly decaying memory store ''iconic memory''.<ref name = "Neisser">{{cite book | last1 = Neisser | first1 = Ulric | author-link1 = Ulric Neisser | title = Cognitive Psychology | url = https://archive.org/details/cognitivepsychol00neis | url-access = registration | publisher = Appleton-Century-Crofts | year = 1967 | location = New York }}</ref> Approximately 20 years after Sperling's original experiments, two separate components of visual sensory memory began to emerge: visual persistence and informational persistence.  Sperling's experiments mainly tested the information pertaining to a stimulus, whereas others such as Coltheart performed directs tests of visual persistence.<ref name = "Coltheart"/>  In 1978, Di Lollo proposed a two-state model of visual sensory memory.<ref name="Di Lollo">{{cite journal|last=Di Lollo|first=Vincent|year=1980|title=Temporal integration in visual memory|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: General|volume=109|issue=1|pages=75–97|citeseerx=10.1.1.299.8602|doi=10.1037/0096-3445.109.1.75|pmid=6445405}}<!--| access-date = 2011-03-08 --></ref> Although it has been debated throughout history, current understanding of iconic memory makes a clear distinction between visual and informational persistence which are tested differently and have fundamentally different properties. Informational persistence which is the basis behind iconic memory is thought to be the key contributor to visual short-term memory as the precategorical sensory store.<ref name ="Coltheart"/><ref name="Irwin"/><br />
A similar storage area serves as a temporary warehouse for sounds.<ref>Schacter, D.L., Gilbert, D.T. & Wegner, D.M. (2010). ''Psychology''. Worth Publishers. pp. 226. {{ISBN|978-1-4-292-3719-2}}.</ref>