Abstract
Trace-decay theory suggests that rapid presentation should lead to good immediate memory. On the whole, empirical evidence does not support this prediction. It is suggested that this is because articulatory rehearsal allows functional rate of presentation or re-presentation to be independent of nominal presentation rate. It is predicted that if rehearsal is prevented by articulatory suppression, then digit span should be greater with rapid than with slow presentation. Experiment 1 shows that suppression during presentation but not during recall does lead to an advantage to rapid presentation. Experiment 2 shows that, if suppression occurs during both presentation and recall, this advantage is lost. It is suggested that rapid presentation is advantageous, but only if items can be retrieved within the 1-2 sec required for trace decay.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baddeley, A. D. (1983). Working memory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (London, B), 302, 311–324.
Baddeley, A. D., & Hull, A. (1979). Prefix and suffix effects: Do they have a common basis? Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 18, 129–140.
Baddeley, A. D., Lewis, V., & Vallar, G. (1984). Exploring the articulatory loop. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 36, 233–252.
Baddeley, A. D., Thomson, N., & Buchanan, M. (1975). Word length and the structure of short-term memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 14, 575–589.
Conrad, R. (1960). Very brief delay of immediate recall. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12, 45–47.
Dallett, K. M. (1964). Effects of a supplementary prefix on recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 67, 296–298.
Hitch, G. J., & Halliday, M. S. (1983). Working memory in children. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (London, B), 302, 325–340.
Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63, 81–97.
Morris, R. (1984). Dementia and the functioning of the articulatory loop system. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 1, 143–157.
Murray, D. J. (1968). Articulation and acoustic confusability in short-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 78, 679–684.
Nicholson, R. (1981). The relationship between memory span and processing speed. In M. Friedman, J. P. Das, & N. O’Connor (Eds.), Intelligence and learning (pp. 179-184). New York: Plenum Press.
Waugh, N. C., & Norman, D. A. (1965). Primary memory. Psychological Review, 72, 89–104.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Baddeley, A., Lewis, V. When does rapid presentation enhance digit span?. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 22, 403–405 (1984). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333858
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333858