An Association between Memory Errors and Errors due to Acoustic Masking of Speech

Experimental work in this area has been concerned with quantitative aspects of recall, and the nature of changes in the memory trace has been neglected in the most easily controlled immediate memory situation.

Abstract

THE concept of spontaneous decay of memory traces is deeply rooted in the history of psychology1. Except for the most general statement2,3, the nature of the decay process remains an obscure feature of the borderline between neurology and psychology. Experimental work in this area4,5 has been concerned with quantitative aspects of recall, and the nature of changes in the memory trace has been neglected in the most easily controlled immediate memory situation. This involves no more than the recall and immediate reproduction of a perceived, but no longer present, stimulus.