Primacy Recency Effect

The primacy recency effect or serial position effect is a psychological memory phenomenon which leads to the information presented at the beginning ( primary effect ) and towards the end ( recency effect ) being better remembered for a series of presented judgment objects or learning materials .

This effect has been demonstrated in experimental studies in which test persons were asked to memorize lists of words and then reproduced them using the method of free reproduction, as far as they remember. There can also be deviations with special items, for example test subjects showed a clear serial position effect after the historical period of the presidency when freely reproducing American presidents, but Abraham Lincoln stood out as a clear exception in the memory.

In contrast to the primacy recency effect, there are proactive interference and retroactive interference , in which either previously learned playback or what was learned later restrict the playback of what was learned earlier.

This effect is also used in marketing by placing a special focus on the advertisements at the beginning and at the end of an advertising medium.

See also

• Cognitive bias
• Perceptual error
• Contrast effect
• Learning psychology

literature

1. ^ Deese & Kaufmann: Serial effects in recall of unorganized and sequentially organized verbal material . Ed .: Journal of Experimental Psychology. 1957, p. 180-187 .
2. ^ Ebbinghaus, Hermann: On memory: A contribution to experimental psychology . Ed .: Teacher College. New York 1913.
3. ^ Murdock, BB: The serial position effect of free recall . Ed .: Journal of Experimental Psychology. 1962, p. 482-488 .
4. ^ Henry L. Roediger III & Robert G. Crowder: A serial position effect in recall of United States president . Ed .: Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society. 1976, p. 275-278 .