Visual recognition memory for a sequence of non-verbalized patterns is shown to have a large and clearly defined recency effect. This recency effect occurs with random list lengths and therefore cannot be due to differential processing of the end items. The effect is completely removed by just 3 s of mental arithmetic but survives for at least 10 s over unfilled intervals. Recognition memory for patterns at other serial positions is slower, less accurate, and shows no primacy effect; performance at these earlier serial positions is dependent upon the time for which patterns are initially presented, but is unaffected by the duration of the retention interval, mental arithmetic, and the time between patterns on initial presentation. These findings provide evidence that visual memory has two components that are closely analogous to the short-term (STM) and long-term (LTM) components of verbal memory. Visual STM, here called visualization, has a capacity of one pattern, cannot be activated LTM, and does not seem to be the gateway to LTM.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AtkinsonR. C.ShiffrinR. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In SpenceK. W.SpenceJ. T. (Eds), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and TheoryNew York: Academic Press2, 89–197.
2.
AtkinsonR. C.ShiffrinR. M. (1971). The control of short-term memory. Scientific American225, 82–90.
3.
BaddeleyA. D. (1966). Short-term memory for word sequences as a function of acoustic, semantic and formal similarity. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psycology17, 362–6.
4.
BaddeleyA. D.HitchG. (1974). Working memory. In BowerG. (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and TheoryNew York: Academic Press5, 47–90.
5.
BaddeleyA. D.HitchG. (1975). Recency re-examined Paper presented at the VI Symposium on Attention and Performance, Stockholm.
6.
BjorkR. A.WhittenW. B. (1974). Recency-sensitive retrieval processes in long-term free recall. Cognitive Psychology6, 173–89.
7.
BongartzW.ScheererE. (1976). Two visual stores and two processing operations in tachistoscopic partial report. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology28, 203–19.
8.
ChaseW. G. (1973). Visual Information ProcessingNew York: Academic Press.
9.
CohenG. (1972). Serial position effects in the recall of picture sequences. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology74, 41–7.
10.
ColtheartM. (1972). Visual information processing. New Horizons in PsychologyDodwellP. C.Harmondsworth: Penguin2, 62–85.
11.
CraikF. I. M.JacobyL. L. (1975). A process view of short-term retention. In RestleF.ShiffrinR. M.CastellanN. J.LindmanH. R.PisoniD. B. (Eds), Cognitive TheoryPotomac, Md: Erlbaum Associates1, 173–92.
12.
CraikF. I. M.WatkinsM. J. (1973). The role of rehearsal in short-term memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior12, 599–607.
13.
GlanzerM.CunitzA. R. (1966). Two storage mechanisms in free recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior5, 351–6.
14.
HaberR. N. (1970). How we remember what we see. Scientific American222, 104–12.
15.
HayesJ. R. (1973). On the function of visual imagery in elementary mathematics. In ChaseW. G. (Ed.), Visual Information ProcessingNew York: Academic Press177–215.
16.
HinesD. (1975). Immediate and delayed recognition of sequentially presented random shapes. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memoryi, 634–9.
17.
KrollN. E. A. (1975). Visual Short-term Memory. In DeutschD.DeutschJ. A. (Eds), Short-Term MemoryNew York: Academic Press154–81.
18.
MeltonA. W. (1963). Implications of short-term memory for a general theory of memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior2, 1–21.
19.
MinskyM. (1975). A framework for representing knowledge. In WinstonP. H. (Ed.), The Psychology of Computer VisionNew York: McGraw-Hill211–77.
20.
PaxivioA. (1971). Imagery and Verbal ProcessesNew York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
21.
PetersonL. R.PetersonM. J. (1959). Short-term retention of individual verbal items. Journal of Experimental Psychology58, 193–8.
22.
PhillipsW. A. (1974). One of the distinction between sensory storage and short-term visual memory. Perception and Psychophysics16, 283–90.
23.
PhillipsW. A.BaddeleyA. D. (1971). Reaction time and short-term visual memory. Psychonomic Science22, 73–4.
24.
PhillipsW. A.ChristieD. F. M. (1977). Interference with visualization In preparation.
25.
PosnerM. I. (1969). Abstraction and the process of recognition. In SpenceJ. T.BowerG. H. (Eds), Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and TheoryNew York: Academic Press3, 43–100.
26.
PotterM. C.LevyE. I. (1969). Recognition memory for a rapid sequence of pictures. Journal of Experimental Psychology71, 10–15.
27.
ShafferW. O.ShiffrinR. M. (1972). Rehearsal and storage of visual information. Journal of Experimental Psychology92, 292–6.
28.
ShepardR. N. (1967). Recognition memory for words, sentences and pictures. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior6, 156–63.
29.
TverskyB.ShermanT. (1975). Picture memory improves with longer on time and off time. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memoryi, 114–8.
30.
TzengO. J. L. (1973). Positive recency effect in delayed free recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior12, 436–9.
31.
WaughN. C.NormanD. A. (1965). Primary memory. Psychological Review62, 89–104.
32.
WarringtonE. K.TaylorA. M. (1973). Immediate memory for faces: long- or short-term memory?Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology25, 316–22.
33.
WarringtonE. K.WeiskrantzL. (1963). An analysis of short-term and long-term memory defects in man. In DeutschJ. A. (Ed.),The Physiological Basis of MemoryNew York: Academic Press365–96.
34.
WickelgrenW. A. (1974). Single-trace fragility theory of memory dynamics. Memory and Cognition2, 775–80.
35.
WinstonP. H. (1975). Learning structural description from examples. In WinstonP. H. (Ed.),The Psychology of Computer VisionNew York: McGraw-Hill157–210.
