This website is provided by the NASA Cognition Lab, a research program that's part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration--the people who build spaceships!

Click on Recognition.
1. Take the penny recognition memory test. How many tries did it take you to pick the real penny?
 
 
 

Click on Short Term Memory: Encoding and Rehearsal.

Do Experiment One.
Here are some simplified instructions:

Read the directions for Experiment One.
Click where it says click here. That will take you to a timer labeled "Countdown."
Click on Start, to start a 15-second countdown.
Look at all of the pictures.
After 15 seconds, a box saying "time's up!" will pop up on your screen. Write down your what you saw pictures of, without looking back at the pictures!
After you've written down your answers, press "OK" in the box and "Done" at the bottom of the page.
The answers will show up on the screen.

2.  How many pictures did you remember correctly?
 
 

Do Experiment Two.

The general procedure for the experiment is the same as for Experiment One.

3.  How many words did you remember correctly?
 

Do Experiment Three.

The general procedure for the experiment is the same as for Experiments One and Two.

4.  How many words did you remember correctly?
 
 

5.  Which did you remember better--the pictures, the written words, or the spoken words?
 
 

6.  In your classes, do you tend to remember the pictures or videos, words that are written on the board or on slides, or words that are spoken out loud in lecture?
 
 
 
 
 

Last updated February 9, 2001