Rezen effect
When Rezenzeffekt ( English recency effect ) is a psychological phenomenon. It states that information that comes in later has a greater impact on a person's memory performance than information that comes in earlier. In a narrower sense, the rezen effect is a phenomenon that affects short-term memory . In a broader sense, it occurs when the most recently perceived information is given greater weight than previous information due to the better ability to remember. It occurs in almost all assessment scenarios.
The origin of the rezen effect is the longer availability of current information in the short-term memory, as it is not overwritten by subsequent information. This effect is used, for example, in memory research to test how large the capacity of short-term memory is (cf. the serial position curve by Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968, the "discoverers" of short-term memory).
In addition, one can better deal with the information last perceived. As a result, it is more likely to stick in the memory and has a greater influence on attitudes. The recruitment effect is therefore of particular importance in the case of assessments that take place one after the other (e.g. when one candidate after the other is discussed in job interviews and a decision is only made at the end).
In a study from 2014, the effect was also demonstrated for food. The last bite of a meal can have a strong impact on the judgment of a dish.
In the marketing and distribution of this effect is used to make certain promotional messages or arguments over others emerge (z. B. the last spot in the cinema before the movie or the last argument in the sales pitch ). At the end of the sales pitch, a strong argument is given to persuade a weak customer to buy (reserve argument technique). When assessing people or facts, the effect is a judgment error .
The rezen effect is offset by the so-called primary effect ( English primacy effect ), which takes on a greater role when an overall assessment is made at the end of a series or a reproduction ( recall ) has to take place.
In contrast to the primary effect, there is proactive interference , in which what is learned earlier limits the reproduction of what is learned later.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Atkinson, RC & Shiffrin, RM: Human Memory: A Proposed System and Its Control Processes. In: KW Spence & JT Spence (eds.): The Psychology of Learning and Motivation. Vol 2. Academic Press , New York 1968.
- ↑ Psychology: The last impression counts in the Süddeutsche Zeitung from June 5, 2014.