Hi,
Here is the union set of references that I received in response to my
question about studies that measured human capacity to memorize large
numbers of pictures. My thanks to those who replied (listed below).
While the large number of responses clustered significantly around the
early 'canonical' references, and confirmed that my hazy recollections
were founded in fact, there were some interesting outliers. In
addition several people sent me brief but very useful reviews of the
history of this question, as well as personal recollections of some of
the studies. In order to allow selective reading, I am sending the
texts of these 'value-added' responses in a separate mail.
Best, Daniel.
Bibliography:
Nickerson RS (1965) Short-term memory for complex meaningful visual
configurations: A demonstration of capacity. Can J Psychol 19:155-160.
Shepard RN (1967) Recognition memory for words, sentences and
pictures. J Verbal Learn and Behav 6:156-163.
Notes : 600 pictures.
Nickerson RS (1968) A note on long-term recognition memory for
pictorial material. Psychonomic Science 11:58-
Notes : 600 pictures, 1 day to 1 year delay.
Haber RN, Standing L (1969) Direct measures of short-term visual
storage. Q J Exp Psychol 21:43-54.
Haber RN (1969) Eidetic images. Sci Am 220:36-44.
Potter MC, Levi EI (1969) Recognition memory for a rapid sequence of
pictures. Jour of Experi Psychology 81:10-15.
Haber RN (1970) How We Remember What We See. Sci Am
Standing L, Conezio J, Haber RN (1970) Perception and memory for
pictures: Single trial learning of 2560 visual stimuli. Psychonomic
Science 19:73-74.
Goldstein, Chance (1971) Visual recognition memory for complex
configurations. Perception & Psychophysics 9:237-241.
Standing L (1973) Learning 10000 pictures. Q J Exp Psychol 25:207-222.
Potter MC (1975) Meaning in visual search. Science 187:965-966.
Baddeley (1976) The Psychology of Memory. Basic Books. pp 211-212.
Potter MC (1976) Short-term conceptual memory for pictures. J Exp
Psychol [Hum Learn], 2, 509-522.
Franken RE, Rowland GL (1979) Nature of the representation for
picture-recognition memory. Percept Mot Skills, 49, 619-629.
Shapiro PN, Penrod S (1986) Meta-analysis of facial identification
studies. Psychological Bulletin 100:139-156.
Bartlett JC, Gernsbacher MA, Till RE (1987) Remembering left-right
orientation of pictures. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn, 13, 27-35
Frederickson RE, Bartlett JC (1987) Cognitive impenetrability of
memory for orientation. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn, 13 (2), 269-77
Baddeley (1990) Human Memory. Erlbaum, pp 20-21.
Thanks to:
Kinjiro Amano, Moshe Bar, Horace Barlow, Jim Bartlett, Bruce
Bridgeman, Vicki Bruce, Michael C. Corballis, Shimon Edelman, Frank
Eves, Mel Goodale, Harold Greene, Scott Grigsby, Anthony Hayes, David
W. Heeley, Howard S. Hock, Pierre Jolicoeur, Peter Kaiser, Nancy
Kanwisher, Jeffrey C. Liter, Geoffrey Loftus, Brian Madden, Vera
Maljkovic, Suzanne McKee, Earl Miller, Kazunori Morikawa, Mary C.
Potter, Adam Reeves, Gillian Rhodes, Richard A. Roemer, Robert Savoy,
Maggie Shiffrar, Daniel Simons, Wolfgang Skrandies, Robert
Teghtsoonian, P Thompson, Simon Thorpe, Peter Tse, Chris Tyler, Johan
Wagemans, Josh Wallman, Paul Whittle & Jeremy Wolfe.
Daniel Glaser bnglaser@tohu0.weizmann.ac.il
Department of Neurobiology http://www.weizmann.ac.il/~bnglaser
Weizmann Institute of Science Phone: + 972 (0)8 934 3080
Rehovot 76100 ISRAEL Fax: + 972 (0)8 934 4129