scholarly journals Influences of environmental context on the recency effect in free recall

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 787-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeo Isarida ◽  
Toshiko K. Isarida
1978 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. E. Richardson

Previous research has shown that the imageability of stimulus material affects the secondary memory (SM) component of free recall, but not the primary memory (PM) component, and that a negative recency effect is only observed for material of high imageability. It was found that interactive imagery instructions affected the SM component, but not the PM component; separative imagery instructions led to an increased PM component and a reduced SM component. A negative recency effect can be observed in an initial, delayed recall test. However, it is removed by imagery mnemonic instructions. This supports the idea that the negative recency effect is caused by the fact that subjects do not normally image the last few words presented in a free-recall task.


2007 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 483-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Bonanni ◽  
Patrizio Pasqualetti ◽  
Carlo Caltagirone ◽  
Giovanni Augusto Carlesimo

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.


1970 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 554-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fergus I.M. Craik ◽  
John M. Gardiner ◽  
Michael J. Watkins

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Bowman ◽  
Alberto Avilés

Our perceptual systems are exceptionally good at searching our sensory environments for salient stimuli. A key question is the extent to which this search is performed subliminally. We explore this using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP), by comparing detection performance with the memory left for distractors, the stimuli that have to be rejected as non-targets in the process of searching for targets. Our findings are that “immediate” free recall of arbitrary distractors at RSVP rates is very poor, with a severe recency effect. Recognition performance was higher and less subject to recency, but still substantially lower than detection performance. We argue that these findings suggest that the brain subliminally searches for salient stimuli, and are also consistent with a theory we call the tokenized-percept hypothesis, which links conscious perception to the process of episodically marking experiences.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document