Question

George Sperling briefly presented people with arrays of 12 letters (3 rows of 4 letters each) and asked them to immediately recall what they had seen. Under these conditions, people typically recalled:

Answer 1

Typically, people recall about 4 to 5 items from an array of letters when tested for short-term memory. The capacity of short-term memory was once thought to be 'the magic number' 7 plus or minus 2, but contemporary research suggests it is actually closer to 4 plus or minus 1.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question deals with a classic experiment in the field of psychology, specifically focusing on the capacity of short-term memory. George Sperling designed an experiment to measure how many letters people can recall after a brief presentation. Typically, people can recall about 4 to 5 items from such an array, based on contemporary research by Cowan (2010). This contrasts with the earlier finding by George Miller, who suggested a short-term memory capacity of 7 plus or minus 2 items. Furthermore, research indicates that recall tends to be slightly better for numbers than for letters, and for information we hear (acoustic encoding) over what we see (visual encoding).

To enhance memory retention, it is suggested that material is better encoded when it is made meaningful, for instance using mnemonic devices such as associating words with more memorable concepts.

Activities like spelling exercises or using a Snellen chart for testing visual acuity are related to encoding and memory but are not specifically about short-term memory capacity.