Iconic Memory Based on Sperlings Visual Information Processing Model Essay Example

visual phenomena called "visual persistence" could account for the partial report task superiority. However, Coltheart (1980, p. 210) opposed this view by stating "the distinction between iconic memory and visible persistence is not merely terminological: they are actually different psychological processes. " Haber (1983) found fault with the artificiality of Sperling's tasks.

He suggested that iconic memory has little relevance to actual visual functioning as normal perception is continuous, rather than made up of brief snapshots (Haber, 1983). Loftus (1983, as cited in Chow, 1998) countered this by arguing that most scientific knowledge is obtained in the same manner as Sperling's tasks. He suggested that the evidence for the VIS is strong, therefore further understanding of how it is used in normal perception is required. These limitations reduce the reliability of the experiment. It is important for all experiments based on Sperling's visual information processing model to consider these limitations.If all limitations were removed, these experiments would be seen as more reliable research.

As previously outlined, many researchers have doubted the importance of iconic memory, and the research that it has generated. However, according to Hampson ; Morris (1996) others have argued that iconic memory ensures that the perceptual system has a minimum time in which to process incoming stimuli. Obviously, the topic of iconic memory is important to psychology. Once iconic memory is completely understood, memory will be better understood, and in turn, human behaviour will be better understood.