Brown-Peterson Distractor Technique

The Brown-Peterson distractor technique, also known as Brown-Peterson task, and Brown-Peterson procedure, is a memory exercise credited to the experiments of John Brown, and husband and wife, Lloyd and Margaret Peterson. This cognitive task requires participants to view a series of consonant trigrams (three non-morphemic letters like GTB or JGZ) and then engage in a distractor technique (lasts from three to 18 seconds) which is to count backwards by threes from 999 between the presentation of each trigram. This procedure tests working memory and uses distracters to prevent rehearsal, or increasing memory capacity through practice.