Abstract
A RECENT report by Inglis1 appears to demonstrate unequivocally that a short-term storage mechanism of the type postulated by Broadbent2 is required if an individual is to recall correctly a series of dichotic digits. Furthermore, this storage mechanism becomes less efficient as age increases. Briefly, Broadbent has suggested that both perceptual and storage mechanisms are necessary in a dichotic situation. There is sequential recall, and one half of the dichotic series is held in temporary storage while the other half is being recalled. Once the first half-set has been reproduced, the stored, second half-set becomes available for recall. It is this second half-set which is subject to deterioration with advancing age. This phenomenon has been previously demonstrated3,4, but the possibility existed that these findings might also be explained in terms of other age-related changes in the nervous system. The report by Inglis1 appears to preclude these possibilities. His subjects were 120 people aged 11-70. By specifying the order of recall, either before or after presentation of the stimuli, he was able to show that the results could not be attributed to age changes in perception and/or attention. That is, there was no evidence of failure to hear or to attend to the stimuli.
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References
Inglis, J., Nature, 204, 103 (1964).
Broadbent, D. E., Perception and Communication (London: Pergamon Press, 1958).
Inglis, J., and Caird, W. K., Canad. J. Psychol., 17, 98 (1963).
Mackay, H. A., and Inglis, J., Gerontologia, 8, 193 (1963).
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CAIRD, W. Effects of Age on the Recall of Dichotic Words. Nature 207, 109 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/207109a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/207109a0
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