THE ROLE OF ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE AMOUNTS OF TIME IN FORGETTING WITHIN IMMEDIATE MEMORY - THE CASE OF TONE-PITCH COMPARISONS

Many investigators of auditory sensory memory have assumed that memory loss during a retention interval of some seconds results from a proce ss (such as decay) that depends on the absolute amount of time that ha s elapsed since presentation of the sound. An alternative possibility, brought to light by studies on immediate verbal memory, is that it is the relative, rather than the absolute, amount of time that matters. We examine these factors in a tone-comparison study by varying not onl y the retention interval between two tones to be compared, but also th e interpair interval. Relative time played a role, but absolute time a lso appeared to be important. Several concepts of ''decay'' are consid ered in relation to the results.