Why did research participants in Sperling's experiment recall so few letters stored in iconic memory?
A) They stopped paying attention after a few stimuli.
B) Proactive interference reduced the effectiveness of recall.
C) The stress of participating in this research became excessive.
D) The remaining stimuli quickly faded from iconic memory.
E) Because participants were not able to recall more than 1 or 2 of the letters during each trial.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Iconic memory only holds information for a very brief period of time (less than half a second). Therefore, if participants did not recall the stimuli immediately after it was presented, it was likely to have faded from iconic memory quickly.

Why Did Research Participants in Sperling's Experiment Recall So Few