Journal article

Publication year: 1993

Pages: 845-866

Journal: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance

Volume number: 19

Issue number: 4

ISSN: 0096-1523

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.19.4.845

Publisher: American Psychological Association

Abstract: 
To report letters from briefly exposed letter arrays, subjects must transfer information from a rapidly decaying trace (iconic memory) to more durable storage. In a partial-report paradigm, we systematically varied the proportion (P) of trials with a long cue delay relative to a short cue delay. Practiced subjects used the same transfer strategy independent of P. Data from a partial-report-plus-masking experiment were used to construct a computational model that accurately predicted partial- and whole-report performance with and without masks. Assumptions: Prior to a cue, subjects attend primarily to the middle row of a three-row display, resulting in nonselective transfer. After the cue, they attend only to the cued row. Transfer rate is the product of iconic legibility (which depends on time and retinal location) and attention allocation (which shifts after a cue). Cumulative transfer is limited by the capacity of durable storage.

Harvard Citation style: Gegenfurtner, K. and Sperling, G. (1993) Information transfer in iconic memory experiments, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 19(4), pp. 845-866. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.19.4.845

APA Citation style: Gegenfurtner, K., & Sperling, G. (1993). Information transfer in iconic memory experiments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. 19(4), 845-866. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.19.4.845