Susan is introduced to Jerry. She immediately smiles and says, "Hello, Jerry." A minute later, she wants to introduce Jerry to her friend Mary, but she cannot remember his name. Based on this information, how far in Susan's memory system did Jerry's name get?
A) It reached the sensory register.
B) It reached working memory.
C) It reached long-term memory.
D) It never got into the memory system at all.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When Susan first met Jerry, his name entered her sensory register, which has a very limited duration of less than a second. She then processed the name into her working memory, which has a capacity of around 7 items and a duration of around 20-30 seconds. However, when she wanted to introduce Jerry to Mary, she was unable to retrieve his name from her working memory, suggesting that it was not encoded into her long-term memory, which has a virtually limitless capacity and duration.

Susan Is Introduced to Jerry