ABSTRACT
Cowan (1984) reviewed evidence that there are two phases of memory for auditory sensation: one that lasts several hundred msec and extends the duration of a perception, and a second that contains acoustic information in a partly processed form for 10–20 sec or more. This review is summarized, emergent issues are discussed, and research is reported to further examine the functioning of the first, brief memory phase. This memory adds to a temporal integration process that determines a sound’s perceptual qualities (e.g., loudness), and it prolongs an information extraction process that determines perceptual clarity (discriminability).
