Rehearsal Strategies and the Serial-Position Curve in Immediate Free Recall of Ordered Items

1970 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herman Buschke ◽  
Walter Kintsch
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Serial Position ◽  
Serial Position Curve ◽  
Primacy Effect ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Recall Order ◽  
Rehearsal Strategies ◽  
Serial Position Curves

Immediate free recall of random strings of 10 numbers was studied under four experimental conditions: as each number was presented, subjects either had to recall the previous number (Recall n–1), recall the number just presented (Recall n), read the number (Read aloud), or were silent (Free Recall). Overall recall was the same in all conditions. Recall and order of recall by serial-position changed systematically, with an increasing recency and decreasing primacy effect from Free Recall through Read Aloud and Recall n to Recall n–1. These changes in recall order and serial-position curves suggest that differential rehearsal of items is decreased by requiring retrieval during presentation.

Primacy and Recency in Recognition of Odours and Recall of Odour Names

1995 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 787-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith M. Annett ◽  
Alan W. Lorimer
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Serial Position ◽  
Serial Position Curve ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Elaboration Condition

This study examined the serial position curve for recognition of odours and recall of odour names, both with and without instructions for verbal elaboration. Participants were allocated to one of two experimental conditions, either with instructions to rehearse verbally the stimuli or with no elaboration instructions. After presentation of 17 odours, either recognition or free recall of the odours was tested immediately after presentation of the last target odour. Recognition showed evidence of primacy for the verbal elaboration condition and recency for both instruction conditions. Recall of odour names showed evidence of primacy for the verbal elaboration conditions and recency for both conditions. Instructions to verbalize did not significantly affect over-all performance for either test condition.

Primacy and Recency Effects in Immediate Free Recall of Sequences of Spatial Positions

2007 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 483-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Bonanni ◽  
Patrizio Pasqualetti ◽  
Carlo Caltagirone ◽  
Giovanni Augusto Carlesimo
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Serial Position ◽  
Serial Position Curve ◽  
Presentation Rate ◽  
Recency Effect ◽  
Primacy Effect ◽  
Spatial Position ◽  
Recency Effects ◽  
Task Requirement ◽  
Recall Paradigm

This study evaluated the serial position curve based on free recall of spatial position sequences. To evaluate the memory processes underlying spatial recall, some manipulations were introduced by varying the length of spatial sequences (Exp. 1) and modifying the presentation rate of individual positions (Exp. 2). A primacy effect emerged for all sequence lengths, while a recency effect was evident only in the longer sequences. Moreover, slowing the presentation rate increased the magnitude of the primacy effect and abolished the recency effect. The main novelty of the present results is represented by the finding that better recall of early items in a sequence of spatial positions does not depend on the task requirement of an ordered recall but it can also be observed in a free recall paradigm.

Effects of Rehearsal Instructions on the Primacy Effect in Free Recall

1991 ◽  
Vol 68 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1371-1377
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Titus
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Serial Position ◽  
Serial Position Curve ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Primacy Effect ◽  
Von Restorff Effect ◽  
Primacy Effects ◽  
Rehearsal Condition

The effects of rehearsal on the primacy effect in the serial position curve were investigated. Subjects were instructed to either rehearse or not rehearse previous list items presented at the rate of 1 word/0.5 sec., 1 word/sec., and 1 word/2 sec. The differential rehearsal hypothesis predicted that primacy effects would be observed only in the rehearsal condition. An alternative explanation of the primacy effect in terms of the 1933 von Restorff effect and rehearsal predicted a primacy effect in both the rehearsal and nonrehearsal conditions, with a larger primacy effect in the former. Primacy effects were observed in all conditions but were not significantly larger in the rehearsal condition. The results supported the explanation which included the von Restorff effect.

Pseudo-Primacy Effects in Free Recall

1973 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 891-899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Titus ◽  
John A. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Serial Position ◽  
Serial Position Curve ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Primacy Effect ◽  
List Presentation ◽  
Temporal Distinctiveness ◽  
Primacy Effects

Shiffrin (1970) has suggested that the primacy effect in the serial position curve is the result of the temporal distinctiveness of the initial items in the list. Given this assumption a pseudo-primacy effect should be observed in other parts of the list if distinctive cues are provided. The present experiments tested this prediction. The distinctive cues presented were a change from a male to a female reader (or vice versa) and a short pause in list presentation. Pseudo-primacy effects were produced and the shape of the serial position curve was changed to a significant degree.

scholarly journals Using response time distributions and race models to characterize primacy and recency effects in free recall initiation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Osth ◽  
Simon Farrell
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Serial Position ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Recency Effects ◽  
Linear Ballistic Accumulator ◽  
Response Time Distributions ◽  
Serial Position Functions ◽  
Serial Position Curves ◽  
Alternative Decision ◽  
Rt Distributions

Memory models have typically characterized retrieval in free recall as multi-alternative decision making. However, the majority of these models have only been applied to mean response times (RTs), and have not accounted for the complete RT distributions. We show that RT distributions carry diagnostic information about how items enter into competition for recall, and how that competition impacts on the dynamics of recall. We jointly fit RT distributions and serial position functions of free recall initiation with both a racing diffusion model and the linear ballistic accumulator (LBA: Brown & Heathcote, 2008) model in a hierarchical Bayesian framework while factorially varying different assumptions of how primacy and recency are generated. Recency was either a power law or an exponential function. Primacy was treated either as a strength boost to the early list items so that both primacy and recency items jointly compete to be retrieved, a rehearsal process whereby the first item is sometimes rehearsed to the end of the list to make it functionally recent, or due to reinstatement of the start of the list. While serial position curves do not distinguish between these accounts, they make distinct predictions about how RT distributions vary across serial positions. Results from a number of datasets strongly favor the reinstatement account of primacy with an exponential recency function. These results suggest that models of free recall can be more constrained by considering complete RT distributions.

scholarly journals The effects of spatial, temporal, and control variables on the free-recall serial position curve of retardates and equal-MA normals

1975 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herman H. Spitz ◽  
John J. Winters ◽  
Shirley J. Johnson ◽  
Janice G. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Serial Position ◽  
Serial Position Curve ◽  
Control Variables ◽  
And Control

Effects of Conceptual Grouping of Adjacent Items on Serial Learning

1965 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-190
Author(s):  
John H. Wright ◽  
David A. Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
Serial Position ◽  
Serial Learning ◽  
Serial List ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Learning Time ◽  
Serial Position Curves

10 Ss were randomly assigned to each of the 6 experimental conditions representing placement of one of two 5-item concept clusters, empirically shown to differ in degree of conceptual relatedness, in either the beginning, middle, or end portion of a 15-item serial list. Ss learning lists containing a highly conceptually related cluster exhibited a greater tendency to learn the concept items early in serial learning, regardless of their position in the list, than did Ss learning lists containing a less conceptually related cluster. As a result of a superiority of performance in the cluster portions of the high-concept lists and an opposite superiority of performance in the non-cluster portions of the low-concept lists, the serial position curves for the 6 lists were significantly different. The failure to find over-all differences in learning among lists yielding different serial position curves supports theories of serial learning which propose that total serial learning time is independent of the order in which the items of a serial list are learned.

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