Sperling's Classic Experiments On Iconic Memory
PsychSim 5: ICONIC MEMORY
Name: Ann-Riley Lane Section: 2 12/10/12
This activity simulates Sperling’s classic experiments on the duration of visual sensory memory.
Free Recall Test
? What was your score on the free recall test? 35% (2 points)
Iconic Memory
? What is Sperling’s theory of iconic memory? What is an “icon?”(3 points)
Sperling believed that all nine letters were stored in the viewer's memory for a short time, but that the memory faded so rapidly that only a handful of the letters could be moved into short-term memory named before the information disappeared. An icon is a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.
? What is Sperling’s partial report task? How does
it test his theory of iconic memory? (3 points)
Partial report is a memory task in which only a specific set of items are to be reported. He tested this theory by seeing if the memory decayed before all the letters could be named.
Partial Report Test
? What was your score on the partial report test? 25% (2 points)
? Are your results consistent or inconsistent with typical results? What do typical results suggest? (4 points)
My scores are consistent with typical results. Most people recall a significantly higher percentage of letters in the cued recall than free recall task. This improvement demonstrates that the viewer’s actually store considerably more visual information for a brief time that they are able to report a few seconds later.
Delayed Partial Report Test
? What was your score on the delayed partial report test? 15% (2 points)
? What does the typical drop in performance tells us about the duration of iconic memory? (4 points)
It suggests that the iconic memory store has an effective duration of less than 500 milliseconds. Sperling's research indicated that the typical duration of iconic memory is about 250 milliseconds. This means that any visual information that is not transferred to more permanent memory within the 250-millisecond limit will be lost.
Name: Ann-Riley Lane Section: 2 12/10/12
This activity simulates Sperling’s classic experiments on the duration of visual sensory memory.
Free Recall Test
? What was your score on the free recall test? 35% (2 points)
Iconic Memory
? What is Sperling’s theory of iconic memory? What is an “icon?”(3 points)
Sperling believed that all nine letters were stored in the viewer's memory for a short time, but that the memory faded so rapidly that only a handful of the letters could be moved into short-term memory named before the information disappeared. An icon is a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second.
? What is Sperling’s partial report task? How does
it test his theory of iconic memory? (3 points)
Partial report is a memory task in which only a specific set of items are to be reported. He tested this theory by seeing if the memory decayed before all the letters could be named.
Partial Report Test
? What was your score on the partial report test? 25% (2 points)
? Are your results consistent or inconsistent with typical results? What do typical results suggest? (4 points)
My scores are consistent with typical results. Most people recall a significantly higher percentage of letters in the cued recall than free recall task. This improvement demonstrates that the viewer’s actually store considerably more visual information for a brief time that they are able to report a few seconds later.
Delayed Partial Report Test
? What was your score on the delayed partial report test? 15% (2 points)
? What does the typical drop in performance tells us about the duration of iconic memory? (4 points)
It suggests that the iconic memory store has an effective duration of less than 500 milliseconds. Sperling's research indicated that the typical duration of iconic memory is about 250 milliseconds. This means that any visual information that is not transferred to more permanent memory within the 250-millisecond limit will be lost.