MCAT Psych/Soc Practice Exam 2025 – Complete Study Guide

Iconic memory is a specific type of sensory memory that pertains exclusively to visual stimuli. It captures visual information for a very brief period, typically lasting only a fraction of a second (about 250 milliseconds). This allows for a quick retention of images that the brain can process before they fade away.

The second choice accurately describes this phenomenon as a form of sensory memory characterized by its very short duration. This ephemeral quality is crucial because it affords individuals the ability to perceive visual scenes as cohesive rather than a series of disjointed images, thereby facilitating smoother visual information processing.

While other forms of memory, such as echoic memory, deal with auditory inputs and can last longer, iconic memory is strictly visual and serves a very specific purpose in the initial stages of memory processing. Thus, the correct characterization of iconic memory aligns perfectly with the definition provided in the second choice.