Day 3 of 150 Memory Difficulty 6/10
Iconic visual memory lasts roughly a quarter of a second
Quick answer
Iconic visual memory lasts roughly a quarter of a second. Today's question (Iconic memory duration) asks about a finding from Sperling, G. in 1960. The correct option is About 250–500 milliseconds — full explanation, primary source, and glossary cross-links below.
Today's question
In Sperling's partial-report experiments, how long does iconic (visual sensory) memory persist before rapid decay?
Reveal the answer and explanation
Correct: B — About 250–500 milliseconds
Sperling's 1960 partial-report paradigm flashed a 3×4 grid of letters for 50ms, then cued one row a moment later. Participants could recall any cued row almost perfectly — but only if the cue arrived within ~250–500ms. Beyond that window, the icon had faded. The experiment is the founding empirical demonstration that visual sensory memory is a brief, high-capacity store, distinct from short-term memory.
About the source
Sperling, G. (1960). The information available in brief visual presentations. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 74(11), 1–29.
Every Cognition Bible question cites a primary source — a paper, book chapter, or monograph that exists, that we can point to on Google Scholar, and whose finding the question accurately summarizes. No fabricated authority strings, no name-drops without paper-level grounding.
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