Brown–Peterson Task
The Brown–Peterson Task is a working memory paradigm that measures short-term retention of three-letter consonant trigrams under interference. Complete each recall after the delay.
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Task Flow
1. Fixation cross (0.5s) 2. Trigram presented (3s) 3. Interference task during retention interval 4. Recall the three letters
References
- Peterson, L. R., & Peterson, M. J. (1959). Short-term retention of individual verbal items. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 58(3), 193-198. 10.1037/h0049234
- Brown, J. (1958). Some tests of the decay theory of immediate memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 10(1), 12-21. 10.1080/17470215808416249
- Waugh, N. C., & Norman, D. A. (1965). Primary memory. Psychological Review, 72(2), 89-104. 10.1037/h0021797
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Frequently Asked Questions
Have another question? Let us know.
Where does this task come from?
It reproduces the Brown-Peterson paradigm from 1958-1959, one of the most influential demonstrations in memory research.
Why do I have to count backwards?
Counting backwards occupies rehearsal so you cannot silently refresh the letters. The resulting forgetting curve shows how quickly short-term traces fade when they cannot be rehearsed.
What should typical performance look like?
Recall is usually near-perfect after a couple of seconds and drops substantially by 15-30 seconds of distracting counting — the signature of a fragile short-term store.
What does it tell us about memory?
It supports the classic distinction between a limited short-term store and long-term memory, and shows that without active maintenance, new information is largely gone within half a minute.
About This Experiment
This experiment is an educational adaptation for demonstration purposes. It is not a clinical diagnostic tool. Results reflect your performance in this specific session and should not be interpreted as an assessment of your cognitive abilities.
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