Sensory storage reconsidered

Abstract

Models of sensory storage appear to incorporate three features: capacity in excess of short-term memory, rapid decay of information, and an unprocessed trace as the storage medium. The evidence for each is examined in the visual and the auditory modes. The excess capacity hypothesis is rejected on the grounds that negative results are obtained when output interference and cue anticipation mechanisms are excluded. Rapid decay is seen as a minor effect which may not result from sensory storage. Limited trace storage appears to exist in the form of extremely brief sensory persistence, but applies only to normally attended stimuli; the pivotal concept of subsequent random access to a trace appears unsupported.