A common basis for recency effects in immediate and delayed recall.

Examined the effects of word frequency and list length on the long-term serial position curve in 2 experiments, using a total of 68 undergraduates. In Exp I, the object was to find a distractor activity that would be sufficient to eliminate the recency effect in conventional free recall. In Exp II, whether list length would show a similar pattern of effects in a continuous-distractor paradigm was examined. Results demonstrate that word frequency and list length had the same effects on the serial-position curve in the continuous-distractor paradigm of delayed recall that they had previously been shown to have in immediate recall. High word frequency and shorter lists led to improved recall of preterminal items but did not influence recall of terminal items. Results suggest that the same processes underlie recency effects in the 2 paradigms and that accounts that attribute recency effects to primary (or short-term) memory are inadequate. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memorial and strategic determinants of tactile recency.

Across 4 experiments, recency arising from the presentation of 5-item tactile lists was assessed with immediate and delayed recall with or without a same-modality suffix. The lists were presented with or without concurrent verbalization and at rates varying from 0.5 s to 2 s per item. Delaying recall or the addition of a suffix impaired recency both in the absence of concurrent verbalization during list presentation and at the 1-s presentation rate. In contrast, both concurrent verbalization during list presentation and a 0.5-s presentation rate restored recency for both the delayed recall and suffix conditions. This pattern of data is problematic for sensory memory and for trace discriminability accounts of modality and suffix effects. It is suggested that a sensory memory account together with an attention-biasing strategy by which limited encoding resources are diverted toward the terminal list item can better accommodate the data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for serial position: Effects of spacing, vocalization, and stimulus suffixes.

Several theorists have argued that the magnitude of recency effects in recall reflects the clarity of temporal-order information in memory. Six experiments tested this proposal by observing the effects of three variables (interitem spacing, vocalization, and stimulus suffixes) that can influence the magnitude of the recency effect on memory for serial position. Spacing had no beneficial effects on memory for position. Vocalization benefited memory for position but only at the beginning and end of a list. Stimulus suffixes interfered with memory for position only at the end of a list. The entire pattern of results cannot be explained by temporal-coding accounts of the recency effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Oscillator-based memory for serial order.

A computational model of human memory for serial order is described (OSCillator-based Associative Recall [OSCAR]). In the model, successive list items become associated to successive states of a dynamic learning-context signal. Retrieval involves reinstatement of the learning context, successive states of which cue successive recalls. The model provides an integrated account of both item memory and order memory and allows the hierarchical representation of temporal order information. The model accounts for a wide range of serial order memory data, including differential item and order memory, transposition gradients, item similarity effects, the effects of item lag and separation in judgments of relative and absolute recency, probed serial recall data, distinctiveness effects, grouping effects at various temporal resolutions, longer term memory for serial order, list length effects, and the effects of vocabulary size on serial recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contributions to the functional analysis of single-trial free recall.

An extensive body of research generated by the now outmoded dual store model has produced a set of functional principles of single-trial free recall. One principle, termed the ratio rule, describes the properties of the recency effect, while several others based upon laws of rehearsal have been advanced to account for the primacy effect. These principles, which may eventually establish the foundation for a more comprehensive theory of list memory, were tested in three experiments. The first two experiments showed that when rehearsal is eliminated (Experiment 1) or equated (Experiment 2), reliable primacy and recency effects are obtained. The third experiment demonstrated that the effectiveness of rehearsal during list presentation declines monotonically as a function of serial position. These results contrast with the prevailing functional account of both primacy and recency effects and suggest several new lines of inquiry into the subject. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contextual variability and serial position effects in free recall.

In immediate free recall, words recalled successively tend to come from nearby serial positions. M. J. Kahana (see record 1996-93836-009) documented this effect and showed that this tendency, which the authors refer to as the lag recency effect, is well described by a variant of the search of associative memory (SAM) model (J. G. W. Raaijmakers & R. M. Shiffrin, 1980, 1981). In 2 experiments, participants performed immediate, delayed, and continuous distractor free recall under conditions designed to minimize rehearsal. The lag recency effect, previously observed in immediate free recall, was also observed in delayed and continuous distractor free recall. Although two-store memory models, such as SAM, readily account for the end-of-list recency effect in immediate free recall, and its attenuation in delayed free recall, these models fail to account for the long-term recency effect. By means of analytic simulations, the authors show that both the end of list recency effect and the lag recency effect, across all distractor conditions, can be explained by a single-store model in which context, retrieved with each recalled item, serves as a cue for subsequent recalls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Functional characteristics of auditory temporal—spatial short-term memory: Evidence from serial order errors.

The functional characteristics of auditory temporal-spatial short-term memory were explored in 8 experiments in which the to-be-remembered stimuli were sequences of bursts of white noise presented in spatial locations separated in azimuth. Primacy and recency effects were observed in all experiments. A 10-s delay impaired recall for primacy and middle list items but not recency. This effect was shown not to depend on the response modality or on the incidence of omissions or repetitions. Verbal and nonverbal secondary tasks did not affect memory for auditory spatial sounds. Temporal errors rather than spatial errors predominated, suggesting that participants were engaged in a process of maintaining order. This pattern of results may reflect characteristics that serial recall has in common with verbal and spatial recall, but some are unique to the representation of memory for temporal-spatial auditory events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A recency-based account of the primacy effect in free recall.

Seven experiments investigated the role of rehearsal in free recall to determine whether accounts of recency effects based on the ratio rule could be extended to provide an account of primacy effects based on the number, distribution, and recency of the rehearsals of the study items. Primacy items were rehearsed more often and further toward the end of the list than middle items, particularly with a slow presentation rate (Experiment 1) and with high-frequency words (Experiment 2). Recency, but not primacy, was reduced by a filled delay (Experiment 3), although significant recency survived a filled retention interval when a fixed-rehearsal strategy was used (Experiment 4). Experimenter-presented schedules of rehearsals resulted in similar serial position curves to those observed with participant generated rehearsals (Experiment 5) and were used to confirm the main findings in Experiments 6 and 7. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recency and suffix effects in serial recall of musical stimuli.

Previous research indicates that auditory presentation of verbal items leads to larger recency effects in recall than visual presentation. This enhanced recency can be eliminated if a stimulus suffix (an irrelevant sound) follows the last item. Four experiments, with 126 university students as Ss, tested the hypothesis that recency and suffix effects in serial recall result from a speech-specific process. It was demonstrated that serial recall of musical notes played on a piano exhibited substantial recency effects. These recency effects were reduced when the list items were followed by either a piano chord or the word start. However, a white-noise suffix had no effect on recency. It is concluded that this pattern of data is consistent with current work on auditory perception and places constraints on theories of recency and suffix effects. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Semantic cuing and the scale insensitivity of recency and contiguity.

In recalling a set of previously experienced events, people exhibit striking effects of recency, contiguity, and similarity: Recent items tend to be recalled best and first, and items that were studied in neighboring positions or that are similar to one another in some other way tend to evoke one another during recall. Effects of recency and contiguity have most often been investigated in tasks that require people to recall random word lists. Similarity effects have most often been studied in tasks that require people to recall categorized word lists. Here we examine recency and contiguity effects in lists composed of items drawn from 3 distinct taxonomic categories and in which items from a given category are temporally separated from one another by items from other categories, all of which are tested for recall. We find evidence for long-term recency and for long-range contiguity, bolstering support for temporally sensitive models of memory and highlighting the importance of understanding the interaction between temporal and semantic information during memory search. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dissociating conditional recency in immediate and delayed free recall: A challenge for unitary models of recency.

Temporal distinctiveness models of recency in free recall predict that increasing the delay between the end of sequence and attempting recall of items from that sequence will reduce recency. An empirical dissociation is reported here that violates this prediction when the delay is introduced by the act of recall itself. Analysis of data from a number of previously published free recall studies shows that when the assumed availability of final list items is taken into account, recency increases across the first few output positions in immediate recall despite the delay introduced by recalling items; no such change, with a trend to decreasing recency, is observed in delayed recall. Simulations are presented, showing that 2 models accounting for recency in free recall, the temporal context model (M. W. Howard & M. J. Kahana, 2002) and the SIMPLE model (G. D. A. Brown, I. Neath, & N. Chater, 2007), are unable to account for this novel pattern of data. Further simulations show that the results are consistent with a short-term buffer contributing to recency in immediate free recall and that ordered probing of items may also contribute to this effect; both of these are consistent with the formulation of a short-term buffer akin to models of serial recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The generation effect: A test between single- and multifactor theories.

Single- and multifactor accounts of the generation effect (better memory for internally generated items than for externally presented items) were tested. Single-factor theories suggest that generation induces either stimulus–response relational processing or response-oriented processing. Multifactor theories suggest that generation induces both types of processing. In the first 3 experiments Ss either read or generated responses, and the degree of categorical structure within the list was manipulated. When categorical structure was minimal, large generation effects were observed for free recall and recognition, but not for cued recall. When categorical structure was high, however, a generation effect was observed for cued recall but not for recognition or free recall. A 4th experiment was performed to eliminate an uninteresting interpretation of the results. It is argued that a multifactor account is needed to explain these findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A temporal distinctiveness theory of recency and modality effects.

Conducted 4 experiments with 40 undergraduates and 60 Ss drawn from a university community to confirm the qualitative and quantitative predictions of a temporal distinctiveness theory of contextually cued retrieval from memory as applied to recency and modality (auditory vs visual) effects on the recall of a list of word pairs. Results of Exp I demonstrated that increasing the length of the temporal isolation of the last word pair aurally presented increased recall of the item; increase in recall of the last item was smaller or absent for the visual presentation of the pairs. Exp II indicated that as the number of word pairs isolated at the end of the list increased, the size of the modality effect decreased. Temporal distinctiveness between the 1st and 2nd pairs in Exp III revealed auditory superiority in recall of the 1st pair, an effect that was eliminated in Exp IV when isolated interval occurred between the 3rd and 4th presentation of a 6-item word pair list. A mathematical model of the quantitative predictions of the theory is appended. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concept and measurement of primary memory.

The recency effect in free recall remains relatively constant over experimental conditions that have large and systematic effects on overall level of recall. The effect is commonly attributed to a distinct memory system, known as primary memory. 3 views of primary memory are discussed: the 1st conceptualizes primary memory as a limited capacity store from which information is transferred to a more permanent store, the 2nd equates primary memory with consciousness, are the 3rd sees primary memory as a limited capacity retrieval system. Methods for measuring primary memory have been suggested by N. C. Waugh and D. A. Norman (1965), B. Raymond (1969), B. B. Murdock (1967), and E. Tulving (1968, 1970). These methods are critically evaluated, and their relative merits are assessed with a combination of rational and empirical arguments. (63 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dissociation between recency and span: Neuropsychological and experimental evidence.

This article reports dissociations between verbal span and the recency portion of the serial position curve in immediate free recall, in 2 neuropsychological case studies and in 3 experiments with normal participants. Patient A. N. presented with an impaired serial verbal span while showing an intact recency effect. The opposite pattern was observed in patient G. C., who despite a poor recency showed normal span in verbal serial recall tasks. Experiments 1 and 2 showed a recency effect with visually and auditory presented lists and written recall was resistant to the effects of articulatory suppression and of irrelevant speech, but was disrupted by the suffix effect. Experiment 3 showed that in contrast with recency, memory span was affected by articulatory suppression and irrelevant speech during presentation but not by a suffix. These findings are not consistent with the idea that span and recency measure aspects of the same memory system. Moreover, in clinical practice, they should not be used as equivalent alternatives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Effect of the Length of To-Be-Remembered Lists and Intervening Lists on Free Recall: A Reexamination Using Overt Rehearsal.

In 3 experiments, the authors investigated the effects of to-be-remembered (TBR) and intervening list length on free recall to determine whether selective rehearsal could explain the previous finding that recall was affected only by TBR list length. In Experiments 1 (covert rehearsal) and 2 (overt rehearsal), participants saw 5- and 20-word lists and had to recall the list prior to that last presented list. In Experiment 3, either 1 or 2 lists were presented, and recall of TBR list was postcued. Recall proportion decreased with increased TBR list length. Moreover, the authors found extended recency effects when recall was replotted by when words were last rehearsed (Experiments 2 and 3) and an effect of intervening list length when rehearsal was reduced (Experiment 3). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative recency and levels of processing in free recall.

Compared initial and final free recall of 5-item lists for 4 different "processing activities"; during list presentation 32 undergraduates either silently rehearsed, overtly rehearsed, generated rhymes, or generated verbal associates. Whereas the 2 rehearsal conditions showed a marked superiority in immediate free recall, their final (delayed) recall was inferior to that of lists for which associates were generated. It appears that the negative recency effect commonly obtained in delayed recall is a consequence of processing strategies which maximize the recency effect in immediate recall. (French summary) (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Serial Position Effects and the Picture-Superiority Effect in the Group Recall of Unshared Information.

This research examined how serial position effects (i.e., primacy and recency effects) and the picture-superiority effect (i.e., the tendency to recall pictures better than words) can impact the recall of unshared information (i.e., information known by only 1 group member). In 2 experiments, participants studied a stimulus list of pictures and words and completed a group recall task. In both experiments, the authors found that the primacy effect and the picture-superiority effect influenced how much unshared information was recalled and when it was recalled. However, there was little impact of the recency effect on either how much unshared information was recalled or when it was recalled. The implications of these findings for future theoretical research and applications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term memory at the turn of the century: Mary Whiton Calkins's memory research.

Mary Whiton Calkins (1863–1930) is often mentioned in accounts of the history of memory research as the inventor of the method of paired associates as well as for her investigations of primacy, recency, frequency, and vividness in association formation. Her experimental studies over the period from 1892 to 1894 not only introduced the paired associates method but were also pioneering investigations of immediate memory that led Calkins to identify modality effects, primacy and recency effects, and a number of other phenomena rediscovered many years later. Calkins's work deserves more recognition in historical accounts of early years of experimental psychology and memory research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Encoding conditions and the list-strength effect.

The list-strength effect occurs when "strong" items within a list are remembered at the expense of "weak" items within that same list. Two experiments (using 185 college student Ss) showed that variably encoded words were remembered better than words repeated with the same encoding context, whether memory was measured by free recall, frequency estimates, or recognition d'. However, there was little or no evidence from any of the measures that the variably encoded words were recollected in the mixed lists at the expense of the similarly encoded words. This pattern held even though, in Exp 2, there was a list-strength effect on free recall, when list strength was manipulated by increasing the number of presentations of a word. It is concluded that the free recall results could not be accommodated by the model of memory postulated by R. M. Shiffrin et al (see record 1990-13917-001) to account for the effects of list strength. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)