Brown-Peterson Procedure

The Brown-Peterson Procedure is a cognitive psychology task used to measure the decay of short-term memory (STM) over time. It investigates a participant’s ability to retain information in STM while preventing rehearsal through the use of distractor tasks.

Procedure

The procedure involves three main steps:

1. Encoding: The participant is presented with a trigram (a three-letter combination) to remember. They are instructed to pay attention to the trigram while preventing any rehearsing or mentally repeating of the trigram.
2. Distractor task: Immediately after encoding, the participant is given a distractor task, which typically involves counting down or performing another cognitive activity to interfere with rehearsal and prevent the trigram from being actively maintained in STM.
3. Recall: After a specified delay interval (e.g., 3, 6, 9, or 18 seconds), the participant is asked to recall the trigram they were initially presented with. They have to regurgitate the trigram, demonstrating their ability to retrieve information from STM after a certain delay.

Working Principle

The Brown-Peterson Procedure is based on the theory that without rehearsal, information rapidly decays from STM. By introducing a distractor task, it becomes difficult for participants to engage in active rehearsal and retain the trigram in memory.

Uses and Significance

The procedure allows researchers to explore the duration of STM and observe the rate at which information is forgotten without active rehearsal. It helps in understanding memory decay and the limitations of STM capacity, providing insights into the processes involved in short-term memory retention and recall.