Serial position effect on category word list

The purpose of this study was to verify the forms of the effect of serial position effects of memory according to the illuminance of light. This study was conducted as an experimental method, and 21 adults without cognitive impairment participated in the study. The illuminance condition was designed with high illuminance condition of 1,000 lx and low illuminance condition of 300 lx. The memory task used word list of 20 items consisting of a series of pointless spellings. After memorizing the word list for 10 minutes, the participant performed a retention task 24 hours later. The memory retention task consisted of filling the empty part of the learned word and completing the word. The analysis was performed by dividing the word items into three conditions: primacy, middle, and recency. Primacy used the first item in the word list, Middle used the 10th item in the middle of the word list, and finally Recency used the last item in the word list for analysis. The result was F = 4.16 (p = .02), and showed that there was a statistically significant difference in memory retention of primacy, middle, and recency at 95% confidence level in dim condition.

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How many items from a word list can Alzheimer's disease patients and normal controls recall? Do they recall in a similar way?

Dementia & Neuropsychologia ◽

10.1590/s1980-57642008dn10100009 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 52-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Marcia Lorena Fagundes Chaves ◽

Ana Luiza Camozzato

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Serial Position ◽

Normal Control ◽

Serial Position Effect ◽

Position Effect ◽

Word List ◽

Word Recall ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Control Groups

Abstract The serial position effect occurs when individuals are asked to recall a list of information that exceeds normal attention span. Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients show lower scores on word span recall tests when compared to healthy aging subjects, younger individuals or depressed patients. Objective: To evaluate the immediate free recall and the serial position effect of a 10-word list, emotionally neutral in tone, in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and two age-groups of healthy controls. Methods: The free word recall test was applied in a sample of 44 mild AD outpatients and 168 >50 year and 173 ≤50 year-old healthy controls. The span of recalled words and order of recollection of each item was recorded. Scores for serial position effect were analyzed. MMSE scores were recorded for all participants. Descriptive statistics and the ANOVA with Tukey test were performed. Results: The controls scored significantly better than AD patients on the MMSE and word span (p=0.0001). Older controls word span mean ±SD was 5.65±1.75, younger controls was 5.99±1.27, and AD patients was 2.86±1.42. The best recalled item in all groups was the first item of the list. Primacy was observed across the three groups, although AD patients presented lower scores. Recency was diminished among AD patients compared to control groups. Conclusions: Primacy effect was observed in AD patients as well as in both normal control groups. Recency effect was presented by the normal control groups but was extremely poor among AD patients. The first item was universally best retrieved.

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