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Concept information

phenomenon > memory phenomenon > serial position effect

Preferred term

serial position effect  

Definition

  • The term is used to refer to the different rates of recall as a function of the position of the items in the list being studied (the primacy effect and the recency effect).

Broader concept

Belongs to group

Bibliographic citation(s)

  • • Deese, J., & Kaufman, R. A. (1957). Serial effects in recall of unorganized and sequentially organized verbal material. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54(3), 180–187. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040536

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]

  • • Glanzer, M., & Cunitz, A. R. (1966). Two storage mechanisms in free recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 5(4), 351‑360. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(66)80044-0

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]

  • • Healy, A. F., Havas, D. A., & Parker, J. T. (2000). Comparing serial position effects in semantic and episodic memory using reconstruction of order tasks. Journal of Memory and Language, 42(2), 147‑167. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1999.2671

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]

  • • Jahnke, J. C. (1963). Serial position effects in immediate serial recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 2(3), 284–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(63)80095-X

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]

  • • Murdock, B. B. Jr. (1962). The serial position effect of free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64(5), 482–488. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045106

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]

  • • Nipher, F. E. (1878). On the distribution of errors in numbers written from memory. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, 3, CCX–CCXI. Reproduced in Stigler, S. M. (1978). Some forgotten work on memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 4(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.4.1.1

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]

  • • Robinson, E. S., & Brown, M. A. (1926). Effect of serial position upon memorization. The American Journal of Psychology, 37(4), 538‑552. https://doi.org/10.2307/1414914

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: open]

  • • Sehulster, J. R. (1989). Content and temporal structure of autobiographical knowledge : Remembering twenty-five seasons at the Metropolitan Opera. Memory & Cognition, 17(5), 590‑606. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197082

    [Study type: empirical study / Access: open]

  • • Zwaan, R. A., Pecher, D., Paolacci, G., Bouwmeester, S., Verkoeijen, P., Dijkstra, K., & Zeelenberg, R. (2018). Participant Nonnaiveté and the reproducibility of cognitive psychology. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 25(5), 1968‑1972. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-017-1348-y

    [Study type: empirical study, replication / Access: open]

Creator

  • Frank Arnould

Has study method(s)

Dataset citation(s)

  • • Zwaan, R. A., Pecher, D., Bouwmeester, S., Verkoeijen, P., Zeelenberg, R., Dijkstra, K., & Paolacci, G. (2017, July 26). Does Repeated Participation Affect Effect Size? An Analysis of 9 Cognitive Psychological Experiments. doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/GHV6M

Editorial note

  • Serial position effects are also observed in long-term memory (Healy et al., 2000; Sehulster, 1989).

In other languages

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/P66-W1GDT3WH-1

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