Ian Neath

TL;DR: Two experiments tested whether PI occurs when the to-be-remembered items are assumed, by multiple-systems theorists, to be held in the focus of attention, and the results replicate those first reported by Hanley and Scheirer (1975), and pose a problem for theorists who argue that parts of short-term memory are immune to PI.

TL;DR: In a single experiment, the capacity, or span, of long-term memory is measured and it is found that it corresponds roughly to the magical number 4, implying that a chunk-based capacity limit is not a signature characteristic of remembering over the short-term.

TL;DR: Two experiments replicate and extend the word length effect by manipulating the participant's foreknowledge of recall direction and by giving the participant repeated practice with one direction by blocking recall direction, which is problematic for all models that currently have an a priori explanation for word length effects.

TL;DR: It is argued that an interference-based explanation originally dismissed by Baddeley and Scott can in fact account for their data, and the possible equivalence of decay and non-decay memory models.

TL;DR: A novel test of the physical-distinctiveness account of picture superiority is presented: If the greater physical variability of pictures relative to words is responsible for their mnemonic benefit, then increasing the distinctiveness of words and/or reducing the physical variabilityof pictures should reduce or eliminate the picture superiority effect.