Students in a psychology experiment were exposed to three nonsense syllables for a very short period of time and then asked to recall them. If the instructions to recall the syllables came immediately, the students were usually successful. If the instructions came even one second after the syllables were shown, the students were much less successful. The most plausible explanation for this phenomenon is that in the latter case the icon ________.
A) never made it to the sensory registers
B) faded after being stored in short-term memory
C) was already stored in short-term memory
D) faded before being stored in short-term memory

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The most plausible explanation is that the icon (or visual image of the syllables) faded before being stored in short-term memory, which is why students struggled to recall the syllables if there was even a brief delay in asking them to do so.

Students in a Psychology Experiment Were Exposed to Three Nonsense