Serial Position Effect
The tendency to remember items from the start and end of a list better than items from the middle.
What it is
Bennet Murdock described the curve in free recall in 1962: a steep primacy effect over the first few words, a recency effect over the last eight and a flat stretch between. Glanzer and Cunitz reported that slower presentation helped early and middle items while a filled delay removed the recency effect, and read this as two storage mechanisms. Later work added negative recency in final recall and found that writing items down can reduce primacy.
In effect
In the article on the serial position effect, it is the subject itself, set out as the original result and what replications added.
What it does not say
It describes recall of lists. It does not say that the first and last items of every sequence are remembered best in every setting.
Sources
- Murdock, B. B. (1962). The serial position effect of free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology.
- Glanzer, M., & Cunitz, A. R. (1966). Two storage mechanisms in free recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior.