Cognitive Psychology: Sensory Memory a. In general, participant’s recall accurac

Question

Cognitive Psychology: Sensory Memory

a. In general, participant’s recall accuracy decreases as Tone delay increases. Explain why this relationship exists.

b. In Sperling’s original experiment, participants were able to recall approximately 4.5 letters from a 3x3 matrix of letters using the whole report method. He explained that participants actually saw more than they were able to recall. What was the reasoning behind this conclusion? How did the subsequent Partial Report experiment support this conclusion?

Explanation / Answer

ANSWERS:

(a) In Sperling's original experiment, the observer saw a 3x3 matrix of letters which flashed for a 50 ms for each of the trial. After the flashing of the letter matrix turned off, one of three tones associated with each row were sounded. It was found that the participants were able to accurately report the letters from the row associated with the tone when the tone was presented directly after turning off of the matrix. However, any delays in the tone affected the recall ability of the participant. The visual perception of the participant associated with the tone was stored in the sensory memory. This is the main reason for the decrease in a participant’s recall accuracy with an increase in the Tone delay.

(b) The authencity of perceptual span was verified by the Partial Report experiment. Sperling's had observed that the participants could report 4.5 of the total matrix. However their ability to recall was not dependent on the visual perceptual span but on the time given to report the observation. The observers focussed the visual of the entire matrix in some type of sensory store of their memory. This information is stored for a short period of time. Hence, the longer it takes to report the observation, the visual in mind fades away. Therefore with a delay in the tone clue there is decrease in the accuracy. By the time 4.5 items are reported the recall is faded. This experiment suggests that the Perception and the visual memory are associated with a sensory store of iconic cognition.

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