Serial Position Effect in Recalling Ordered Words Paper

Running head: SERIAL POSITION EFFECT IN RECALLING ORDERED WORDS
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Serial Position Effect in Recalling Ordered Words Paper
Student's Name
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SERIAL POSITION EFFECT IN RECALLING ORDERED WORDS
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Table of Content
Serial Position Effect in Recalling Ordered Words.........................................................................3
Abstract........................................................................................................................................3
Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
Methods.......................................................................................................................................5
Results..........................................................................................................................................5
Data Collection........................................................................................................................5
Analysis results........................................................................................................................6
Discussion..................................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................11
Reference...................................................................................................................................12
Appendix....................................................................................................................................13
Serial Position Effect in Recalling Ordered Words

SERIAL POSITION EFFECT IN RECALLING ORDERED WORDS
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Abstract
In this experimental study, we assessed serial position effect experienced by Kaplan
students as they tried to recall 15 random words from four different lists. The theories of primacy
and recency were evaluated utilizing the data collected from 11 participants. The analysis
employed two data examination techniques that focused on individual and grouped evaluation.
The hypotheses formulated were supported or rejected based on the analysis findings. The
analysis results indicated that primacy was clearly noticeable in the ability of the student's to
recall the first list items; while, recency was not so evident but was moderately present.
Therefore, only hypothesis H0 was rejected; meaning that serial position effect did indeed affect
the students' ability to recall list items.
Introduction
Serial position effect is a psychological theory that describes how the position of a given
item/entry in a list affects a person's recall accuracy (Keith, 2013). The term serial position effect
was developed by Herman Ebbinghaus. There are two concepts that fall under the umbrella of
serial position effect these are primacy and recency. As such, a person is able to recall with
greater accuracy items at the beginning (primacy) and those at the end (recency) compared to
items in the middle of the list. The aim of this study is to establish whether or not students will
fall victim to serial position effect when they are asked to recall as many words as they can from
four lists with 15 words each. Experimental results generated from a study conducted by
Glenberg, et al. (1980), indicated that participants were able to rehearse and recall the starting
items in a list when the items were mentioned slowly. On the other hand, the study also
established that primacy effect does not apply when the list of item is provided rapidly. In
addition, repetition of the list several times showed to greatly improve the participant's ability to

SERIAL POSITION EFFECT IN RECALLING ORDERED WORDS
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rehearse and recall the first items in the list (Glenberg, Bradley, Stevenson, & Kraus, 1980). A
cognitive research study by Murray and Anita (1966) to investigate the impact of distraction on
primacy and recency effects observed in a group of participants yielded interesting findings. The
results showed that primacy remained even when participants were interrupted for 30 seconds
with an unrelated task. But recency was completely lost when participants were distracted by the
30 second task. The fact that recency was lost supports the theory that the ability to recall is
entire dependent on a person's short-term memory (Murray & Anita, 1966).
The underlining premise to substantiate the primacy effect is that an individual expends
very little effect trying to rehearse the first items in a list compared to those in the middle (Jones
& Oberauer, 2013). A lot of processing effort is employed when a person tries to rehearse middle
items because they are still trying to retain previously rehearsed items (this causes significant
cognitive strain and burden). The supporting theory that lays precedence for recency effect is
that individuals have a greater level of recalling items at the end of a list because the information
is stored in the short-term memory (i.e. working memory) (Roediger & Crowder, 2013). The
short-term memory allows individuals to processes immediate and conscious transitory
information. We can therefore hypothesis that participants will be better to recall first and last
items in our four lists.
H0: Individuals will be able to recall all items regardless of portion with equal frequency
H1: Individuals will be able to recall first items with greater accuracy compared to middle items
H2: Individuals will be able to recall last items with greater accuracy compared to middle items
Methods
A total of 15 Kaplan students were allowed the opportunity to provide information for the
study (population). However, recollection data was only retrieved from 11 students; in addition,