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PubMed · 16181438

Visual memory decay is deterministic.

Jason M Gold·Richard F Murray·Allison B Sekuler·Patrick J Bennett·Robert Sekuler
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Abstract

After observers see an object or pattern, their visual memory of what they have seen decays slowly over time. Nearly all current theories of vision assume that decay of short-term memory occurs because visual representations are progressively and randomly corrupted as time passes. We tested this assumption using psychophysical noise-masking methods, and we found that visual memory decays in a completely deterministic fashion. This surprising finding challenges current ideas about visual memory and sets a goal for future memory research: to characterize the deterministic "forgetting function" that describes how memories decay over time.

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Choice BehaviorDiscrimination, PsychologicalHumansJudgmentMemory DisordersMemory, Short-TermNoiseNormal DistributionPerceptual MaskingTask Performance and AnalysisTime FactorsVisual PerceptionJournal ArticleResearch Support, N.I.H., ExtramuralResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tResearch Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

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Jason M Gold, Richard F Murray, Allison B Sekuler, Patrick J Bennett, Robert Sekuler. 2005. Visual memory decay is deterministic.. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01612.x

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