| Abstract: | 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) |
