The size of the unit in short-term storage

Abstract

A series of studies was carried out to determine the length of (1) the verbal sequence that is held as a unit in short-term store during free recall and (2) the number of such units held. An initial study showed that the unit is at least a word in length. It makes no difference whether the word has one or two syllables or one or two morphemes. When presented with lists of words, subjects hold two word units in short-term store. Subsequent studies showed that the unit may be as long as a full sentence particularly when the sentence is a familiar one. When presented with lists of sentences, subjects hold two sentence units in short-term store. The results indicate that short-term store holds relatively long, complex sequences; that the picture of it as a primitive, severely limited stage in the processing of information is incorrect. The relevance of the results to the linking of memory and language processing is pointed out. The identification of short-term store as a sentence processing unit is argued.