Peterson and Peterson 1959

Question 1

evidence to support what

Answer 1

duration of STM

Question 2

stage 1

Answer 2

participants required to remember a single trigram of 3 constants for intervals of 3,6,9,12,15 and 18 seconds.

Question 3

stage 2

Answer 3

the trigram was read out and participants were then given a number they had to count backwards from in 3s.
interference task prevented rehearsal of trigram

Question 4

conclusion

Answer 4

-correct recall likely after short interval but performance dropped rapidly after 15-18 seconds
-this supports that decay occurs after around 15 seconds and our STM has a limited duration.