[[Iconic memory]], which is associated with the [[visual system]], is perhaps the most researched of the sensory registers. The original evidence suggesting sensory stores which are separate to short-term and long-term memory was experimentally demonstrated for the visual system using a [[tachistoscope]].<ref name=Sperling1960 />
[[Iconic memory]] is only limited to field of visionwork. That is, as long as a stimulus has entered the field of vision there is no limit to the amount of visual information iconic memory can hold at any one time. As noted above, sensory registers do not allow for further processing of information, and as such iconic memory only holds information for visual stimuli such as shape, size, color and ___location (but not semantic meaning).<ref name=Sperling1960 /> As the higher-level processes are limited in their capacities, not all information from sensory memory can be conveyed. It has been argued that the momentary mental freezing of visual input allows for the selection of specific aspects which should be passed on for further memory processing.<ref name=ColtheartLeaThompson1974 /> The biggest limitation of iconic memory is the rapid decay of the information stored there; items in iconic memory decay after only 0.5–1.0 seconds.<ref name=Sperling1960 />
