Journal article

Publication year: 2011

Pages: 1503-1521

Journal: Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics

Volume number: 73

Issue number: 5

ISSN: 1943-3921

eISSN: 1943-393X

Open access status: Bronze

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-011-0120-z

Publisher: Springer

Abstract: 
We investigated how visual information is best presented to maximize the number of remembered items in a fixed time unit. In a memory task for images depicting real-world objects, we varied the number of images shown simultaneously, the presentation time, and the interstimulus interval (ISI). The viewing phase was followed by a two-alternative forced choice recognition task. We converted the percentage of correct answers into a capacity estimate scaled to a fixed time unit of 1 s to allow for comparisons across conditions. Our results showed that (1) presenting one image very briefly was always more efficient than simultaneously showing multiple images for longer periods; (2) for single images, the maximum encoding rate was fairly constant over a wide range of conditions, at 1.4 objects per second; (3) when testing was done a week later, memory capacity was the same for all conditions, irrespective of the presentation time and ISI at the initial viewing; (4) highly similar distractors led to worse performance than random distractors; and (5) showing an image twice for 100 ms was associated with worse performance than showing the image once, but for 200 ms.

Harvard Citation style: Huebner, G. and Gegenfurtner, K. (2011) The efficiency of encoding: limits of information transfer into memory, Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 73(5), pp. 1503-1521. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-011-0120-z

APA Citation style: Huebner, G., & Gegenfurtner, K. (2011). The efficiency of encoding: limits of information transfer into memory. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. 73(5), 1503-1521. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-011-0120-z