Mila received a new DVD player that she is trying to connect to the back of her television by feel alone. The first stage of memorizing how to make the connection would be through .

The options for this question are the following:

a. iconic sensory memory

b. haptic sensory memory

c. short-term memory

d. long-term memory

The correct answer is b. haptic sensory memory.

Explanation:

Haptic memory has a capacity of 4 or 5 items, such as the iconic one, although the footprint is maintained for a longer time, about 8 seconds in this case. This type of sensory memory allows us to examine objects by touch and interact with them, for example to pick them up or move them properly.

It is believed that there are two subsystems that make up the haptic memory. On the one hand we find the cutaneous system, which detects the stimulation of the skin, and on the other the proprioceptive or kinesthetic, related to muscles, tendons and joints. It is appropriate to distinguish proprioception from interoception, which involves internal organs.

Haptic memory has been defined more recently than iconic and echoic, so that the scientific evidence available around this type of sensory memory is more limited than those that exist on the other two we have described.

Haptic memory depends on the somatosensory cortex, especially on regions located in the upper parietal lobe, which store tactile information. Likewise, the prefrontal cortex, fundamental for movement planning, also seems involved in this function.