stage theory of memory

n. An early formulation of the processes of memory in cognitive psychology in which information first enters one of several sensory stores which have a high but unspecified capacity in relatively unprocessed form and for periods less than about 1 second. Some of this information from sensory storage is then transferred to short-term memory, which has a capacity of about seven plus or minus two items and lasts from a few seconds up to about 30 seconds and allows more information processing to occur. The longterm memory is the third and final stage, in which an unlimited amount of information is stored on a somewhat permanent basis and is capable of being recalled or used with appropriate cuing.