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dc.contributor.authorMercer, Tom
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-21T15:30:34Z
dc.date.available2016-11-21T15:30:34Z
dc.date.issued2014-12-31
dc.identifier.citationMercer, T. (2014). The loss of short-term visual representations over time: Decay or temporal distinctiveness? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 40, 2281-2288. doi:10.1037/a0038141
dc.identifier.issn1939-1277
dc.identifier.pmid25314045
dc.identifier.doi10.1037/a0038141
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2436/620291
dc.descriptionThis is an accepted manuscript of an article published by American Psychological Association in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance in 2014, available online: https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0038141 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.
dc.description.abstractThere has been much recent interest in the loss of visual short-term memories over the passage of time. According to decay theory, visual representations are gradually forgotten as time passes, reflecting a slow and steady distortion of the memory trace. However, this is controversial and decay effects can be explained in other ways. The present experiment aimed to reexamine the maintenance and loss of visual information over the short term. Decay and temporal distinctiveness models were tested using a delayed discrimination task, in which participants compared complex and novel objects over unfilled retention intervals of variable length. Experiment 1 found no significant change in the accuracy of visual memory from 2 to 6 s, but the gap separating trials reliably influenced task performance. Experiment 2 found evidence for information loss at a 10-s retention interval, but temporally separating trials restored the fidelity of visual memory, possibly because temporally isolated representations are distinct from older memory traces. In conclusion, visual representations lose accuracy at some point after 6 s, but only within temporally crowded contexts. These findings highlight the importance of temporal distinctiveness within visual short-term memory.
dc.languageENG
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherAmerican Psychological Association
dc.relation.urlhttp://wk6kg9sd8m.search.serialssolutions.com/?sid=sersol&SS_jc=JOURNOFEXPPS&title=Journal%20of%20experimental%20psychology.%20Human%20perception%20and%20performance
dc.subjectVisual memory
dc.subjectdecay
dc.subjecttemporal distinctiveness
dc.subjectforgetting
dc.subjectshort-term memory
dc.subject.meshAdult
dc.subject.meshAssociation Learning
dc.subject.meshColor Perception
dc.subject.meshDepth Perception
dc.subject.meshDiscrimination Learning
dc.subject.meshFemale
dc.subject.meshHumans
dc.subject.meshMale
dc.subject.meshMemory, Short-Term
dc.subject.meshOrientation
dc.subject.meshPattern Recognition, Visual
dc.subject.meshReaction Time
dc.subject.meshRetention (Psychology)
dc.subject.meshYoung Adult
dc.titleThe loss of short-term visual representations over time: decay or temporal distinctiveness?
dc.typeJournal article
dc.identifier.journalJournal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance
rioxxterms.versionAM
rioxxterms.licenseref.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.source.volume40
dc.source.issue6
dc.source.beginpage2281
dc.source.endpage2288
refterms.dateFCD2020-12-17T10:44:49Z
refterms.versionFCDAM
refterms.dateFOA2018-08-21T13:34:07Z
html.description.abstractThere has been much recent interest in the loss of visual short-term memories over the passage of time. According to decay theory, visual representations are gradually forgotten as time passes, reflecting a slow and steady distortion of the memory trace. However, this is controversial and decay effects can be explained in other ways. The present experiment aimed to reexamine the maintenance and loss of visual information over the short term. Decay and temporal distinctiveness models were tested using a delayed discrimination task, in which participants compared complex and novel objects over unfilled retention intervals of variable length. Experiment 1 found no significant change in the accuracy of visual memory from 2 to 6 s, but the gap separating trials reliably influenced task performance. Experiment 2 found evidence for information loss at a 10-s retention interval, but temporally separating trials restored the fidelity of visual memory, possibly because temporally isolated representations are distinct from older memory traces. In conclusion, visual representations lose accuracy at some point after 6 s, but only within temporally crowded contexts. These findings highlight the importance of temporal distinctiveness within visual short-term memory.


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