Primary effect

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The primary effect (English primacy effect , also primate effect or first effect) is a psychological memory phenomenon. The effect says that information arriving earlier is remembered better than information arriving later.

This is because this information can be transferred more easily into long-term memory , since no information has yet been received that could interfere with the storage process in long-term memory (consolidation) and negatively influence it.

In a broader sense, the primary effect is a phenomenon that can occur in assessments. Information that comes in earlier can have a stronger effect on the setting than information that comes in later. An example would be the assessment obtained: “This person there is selfish!”. Even if he is then friendly, open and helpful, such behavior is very likely not used to accommodate the original attitude, but rather interpreted as "slime". This particular form of the primary effect is the first impression . It also occurs as an assessment error in surveys and psychological tests, when the first questions have an influence on the later questions and answers. This effect is sometimes particularly resistant to attitudes.

The primary effect is the so-called Rezenzeffekt opposite, in which later incoming information more weight is obtained ( serial position effect ). Overall, it always depends on the situation which of the two effects is more pronounced. When reproducing longer chains of information, however, the first and last learned concepts are generally remembered (cf. the serial position curve by Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968).

In contrast to the primary effect, there is retroactive interference , in which what is learned later restricts the reproduction of what was learned earlier.

See also

literature

  • Atkinson, RC & Shiffrin, RM (1968). Human Memory: A Proposed System and Its Control Processes. In: KW Spence & JT Spence (Eds.): The Psychology of Learning and Motivation . Vol 2. New York: Acad. Press.
  • Bredenkamp, ​​J. & Wippich, W. (1977): Learning and Memory Psychology , Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2.
  • Geml, R. & Lauer, H. (2008): Marketing and Sales Lexicon , 4th edition, Stuttgart, ISBN 978-3-7910-2798-2