II. Evidence of a visual sensory register
A. Original research was conducted by George Sperling (1960).
1. W hole report versus partial report method:
a. Participants viewed a 3 by 4 matrix of letters (see next
page) and were asked to report either the entire matrix
(whole report) or cued with a tone to report one random
line (partial report).
b. Critically, participants did not know which line they would
report until after the matrix had disappeared. When re12
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quired to report the whole matrix, participants could recall
only three or four items.