Short-term memory for tactile and temporal stimuli in a shared-attention recall task.
The present study examined short-term memory for tactile and temporal stimuli. Subjects were required to touch three-dimensional sample objects of different shapes and textures, presented for three durations: short, medium, or long. After the sample duration elapsed, a retention interval (5 sec.-20 sec.) occurred followed by a recall test for one of the sample dimensions of shape, texture, or time, across trials. Analysis showed that accuracy for shape and texture was high throughout testing (95-99%), but memory for perceived duration was relatively poor (60%). Further analysis indicated that poor recall on the time dimension was isolated to the medium and long samples; accuracy for short durations was consistently high (90%). In addition, a reliable response bias emerged; subjects recalled durations shorter than the actual duration presented. The results were discussed in terms of two lines of research, one indicating that haptic short-term memory is strong relative to other memory systems, and the other suggesting that the choose-short bias occurs across species.
Bowers
R L
RL
Mollenhauer
M S
MS
Luxford
J
J
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011939:Mental Recall; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D012718:Set, Psychology; D013236:Stereognosis; D013998:Time Perception