Individual Differences in Short-term Memory

Abstract

PERFORMANCE data reported in an earlier communication¹ have been found to fit a short-term memory model suggested in the first instance by subjects' introspective reports. The experiment concerned used the “missing scan method”², in which random series of letters drawn from the ensemble A to H were presented orally by tape recorder. Each letter occurred only once in each list, arid every list contained seven items, so that one letter of the ensemble was missing on each trial. Subjects were required to name this missing letter as quickly as possible.