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Serial Position Effect

Krishnan. Shreya

Department of Psychology, Christ University (Kengeri Campus)

BPSY 152: Experimental Psychology

Dr Vijay M

5th September 2023

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Introduction

The serial position effect refers to a person’s tendency to recall the first and last items

in a series best, while the middle items are remembered least. It was discovered by Hermann

Ebbinghaus after studying memory accuracy. The primacy effect states that the first few items

earlier on in the list are remembered more frequently than the middle items. The primacy

effect is a theory explaining how the first objects in a list are best stored in long terms

memory due to increased processing time. Faster presentation reduces the primacy effect

while slower presentation boosts it. Longer lists reduce primacy effect.

Recency effect is a cognitive phenomenon where items are remembered in working

memory when requested for recall. Middle items, which benefit from neither are remembered

poorly. The current temporal context can predict more recent items recall. Interfering tasks

reduces the recency effect, as longer distractions can cancel out the effect. The recency effect

remains constant regardless of the list’s length or presentation rate, and middle items benefit

from neither. Interfering tasks require working memory for intervening activities. Amnesiacs

with poor ability to form permanent long-term memories do not allow a primacy effect, but

do show a recency effect if recall comes immediately after. People with Alzheimer’s disease

exhibit a reduced primacy effect but not a reduced recency effect in recall.

The recency effect remains constant regardless of the list’s length or presentation rate.

It is a cognitive bias favouring recent events over older ones, has been partially responsible

for primacy effect. In a repeated choice paradigm, outcome primacy is a phenomenon where

the value of the first reward has a greater impact on subsequent behaviour. Recency bias on

the other hand, favours recent events over historic ones and is related to the serial position

effect. It is important to note that recency bias should not be confused with anchoring or

confirmation bias.

Applications of Serial Position Effect

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1. Marketing:

When presenting your product, services or ideas to prospects, place the most

important messages either first or last. Put least important messages in the middle.

2. Anchoring Effect

Customers generally gravitate towards the option which is often the most recognisable

or memorable choice.

Dual Store Model

Suggest that study items listed last are retrieved from a short-term buffer in human

memory giving recent items an advantage over earlier ones. However, the model cannot

predict the long-term recency effect in delayed recall. This occurs when a distraction

intervenes between each study item during the interstimulus interval, displaces the study item

from the short-term store and attenuates the recency effect. This suggests that immediate and

long-term recency effects may share common mechanisms.

Single Store Models

Two models predict the recency effect in free recall – relative temporal distinctiveness

and contextual variability. Relative temporal distinctiveness suggests that end of list items are

more easily retrieved due to their distinct contextual variability suggests that retrieval is

influenced by the study context, with more recently studied items having more similar

encoding contexts, These models can also predict the presence or absence of the recency

effect in delayed free recall and continued distractor free recall conditions.
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SERIAL POSITION EFFECT

Experimenter’s name: BBS Experiment number: 2

Subject: SK Date: 5th September 2023

Aim: To demonstrate that accuracy of recall is based on the position of the word in the list

Problem: To study the serial position effect on recall

Hypothesis: Recall is higher for words in the beginning of the list (Primacy Effect) and at the

end of the list (Recency effect)

Variables:

Independent Variable: The position of each word in the list

Dependent Variable: Recall of the words at different positions

Confounding Variables:

1. Rate of presentation

2. Length of words

3. Familiarity of the words

4. Distractions

Controls

1. The rate of presentation is held constant at two seconds per word

2. All words in the list are common English words of equal difficulty

3. All the words have the same number of syllables

Design and Plan:

Within the subject design.

To present the subject orally with a list of 30 words

The subject tis subsequently asked to recall as many words as possible from the list in any

order,

Materials:
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1. A list of 30 words

2. Stop clock

3. Data sheet

4. Wooden Screen

Precautions

1. Instructions and examples should be clear.

2. The number of words in the list are not mentioned to the subject.

3. Distractions of any nature should be kept minimum.

Procedure

The subject is seated comfortably in a quiet room. Rapport is built with the subject to put

him/her at ease. The subject is given the data sheet and requested to fill in the background

information. The experimenter notes the time and date of experimentation. The experimenter

then explains to the subject that he/she will be presented with a list of words orally and after

the list is read out the subject has to recall the words. Once the subject has understood the

instructions, the experimenter reads the list of words one by one, at the rate of two seconds

per word. At the end of the list a 30 seconds pause is given and the subject is asked to recall

the words by writing them down on the data sheet.

Instructions

“I will read out a list of words to you. Please listen carefully as you will have to recall the

words later, have you understood? You can begin now".

Data Collection:

1. The number of words correctly recalled is noted down.

2. Behavioural observation is noted

3. Answers to post-task questions are noted

4. Introspective report is collected.

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Post-task questions:

Once the subject has completed the task, he/she is asked a few questions to assist analysis.

The

situation is structured such that the subject feels free to express his/her true feelings.

Following questions are asked:

Did you find any word easier to recall? And why?

Were there any words in the list that you did not know?

Was my voice clear to you all the time while I read the list?

Analysis of the data:

1. Calculate the number of words correctly recalled from the first, middle, and the last

ten parts of the list.

2. Draw a line graph showing the number of words correctly recalled at each position.

3. Calculate the average number of words correctly recalled at each position by the

group.

4. Draw a line graph showing the average number of words correctly recalled at each

position of the group.

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Table 1

Number of words correctly recalled by the subject at each position of the list:

S. No Name Position Number of words recalled

1. SK First third 5
Middle third 0
Last third 6

Graph 1

Shows the number of words correctly recalled by the subject at each position of the list

Number of Words Recalled

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0
First Set Second Set Third Set
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Table 2

Showing the number of words correctly recalled by the group

Sl. No Name Position No. of words recalled

I, II, III
1. SR 8, 8, 6 22
2. AS 3, 3, 3 9
3. PJ 5, 5, 8 18
4. AEM 4, 3, 3 10
5. BRC 3, 4, 3 10
6. SA 5, 2, 4 11
7. AG 6, 2. 6 14
8. BK 3, 5, 3 11
9. FA 6, 3, 6 15
10. YD 7, 2, 3 12
Total 50, 37, 45 132
Mean 5, 3.7, 4.5 13.2

Graph 2

Showing the number of words correctly recalled by the group

Mean Number of Words Recalled

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0
First Set Second Set Third Set
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INDIVIDUAL DISCUSSION:

The experiment was administered on the subject Shreya Krishnan who is 18 years old,

studying in 1st year BSc Honours Psychology at CHRIST University.

Table 1 shows the number of words correctly recalled by the subject at the first, middle and

third position in the word list. In all the three positions the subject has recalled

5, 0, 6 words.

Hence the scores obtained is according to the hypothesis which says that there is better recall

in the beginning and the end than in the middle where the score falls.

Distraction must have influenced or not influences the subject’s results.

GROUP DISCUSSION

Table 2 shows the number of words correctly recalled by the group at the first position,

middle and third position in the word list. In all the three positions the group mean is 5, 3.7,

4.5 words.

Hence the scores obtained is according to the hypothesis which says that there is better recall

in the beginning and the end that the middle where the score falls.

Table 2 shows the number of subjects in the group recalling each word. Subjects have

recalled more number of words from first and last set than the middle set.

One of the subjects has recalled more words in middle position.

Conclusion

1. The subject’s results are according to the hypothesis.

2. The group as a whole confirms the hypothesis.