Abstract
Memory span for strings nine symbols in length ranging from two through nine different symbols per string was examined with repeated measures. Strings were sequentially exposed on a memory drum for 3 sec each; subjects recorded recall when the exposure interval elapsed. Memory span of symbol strings decreased as the number of different symbols composing the strings increased. Amount remembered was also a function of mode of output. Errors in recall indicated that perceptual overlap of symbol features was responsible for confusion errors. When symbols were rotated, confusions became within-symbol rather than between-symbol errors; between-symbol chunking was disrupted by loading individual symbol channels with within-symbol information. Systematic between-symbol chunking suggested that perceptual chunks are formed prior to output; error data revealed a distinct weakening of between-symbol associations when subjects had within-symbol priming information during output.
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Myer, B.M., O’connell, D.C. Perceptual chunking of symbols in memory span. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 8, 143–146 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335107
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335107