A study of short term memory-character presentation and masking stimulus time, and their order

The purpose of this study is to determine what factors influence short-term memory, for a short time that may or may not equal the presentation time. Six or seven English characters are presented for a short time sequentially and at the same position on the display of a CRT. A masking stimulus is presented along with the characters. It is found that: (1) The total presentation time, which is the sum of the character presentation time and the masking stimulus time, has a great effect on short-term memory. (2) A masking stimulus is profitable for short-term memory. (3) When the ratio of character presentation time to total presentation time is large, it is favorable for memory. (4) It is not always favorable for total presentation time to be too much longer.<>