Serial position effect
The serial position effect is a psychological phenomenon that describes how the position of an item in a list influences its recall. Individuals tend to remember the first items (primacy effect) and the last items (recency effect) more easily than those in the middle. This has practical implications for various contexts, such as memorizing grocery lists or learning material for exams. Understanding this effect can help advertisers and designers strategically position key information to enhance memorability; for example, they often place important details at the beginning and end of lists. Researchers have also identified the Von Restorff effect, which suggests that distinctive items stand out more and are remembered better than those that are less remarkable. This effect can be utilized in different settings, such as marketing or education, to improve information retention. Overall, the serial position effect highlights the intricacies of human memory and how list structure can shape our ability to recall information.
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Serial position effect
Serial position effect refers to the tendency of humans to recall items on a list based on where the item appears on the list; in other words, where it is positioned in the series. This concept has implications for people who are trying to remember a series of items, such as a grocery list or a list of facts for a test. It is also used by advertisers, website designers, and others to help ensure that customers see and remember key data.
Background
How the mind works had intrigued people for many centuries, but it was not until near the end of the nineteenth century that significant concepts such as the learning curve were defined. A learning curve is a graphical representation of an increase in learning on the vertical axis and experience on the horizontal axis.
German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909) began by challenging himself to memorize lists of non-words (made-up combinations of consonants and vowels that were not words in German). Ebbinghaus kept careful records as he repeated these lists and tried to memorize them. He noted how many repetitions it took to learn each list, what happened if he continued studying the list after he had it memorized, and what happened to his memory of the list as time went by. Ebbinghaus was the first to identify this as the learning curve.
Ebbinghaus also discovered the significance of placement. Where each non-word was placed on his list had an effect on how easily he recalled it. The first and last items on the list were the easiest to remember, while the items in the middle were the hardest. Ebbinghaus called this the serial position effect.
Overview
People learning a list will easily learn the first item. They will then try to add the second item to the first, the third to the first and second, and so on until the list becomes difficult to remember. This repetition of the earlier items helps make the mental connections that make the first item stick in the person's memory, which is known as the primacy effect.
As the person reads or tries to memorize the items at the end of the list, short-term memory will be activated. This makes the last items—the most recent items encountered—easier to remember. This is known as the recency effect.
Through the combination of the primacy and recency effects, human memory can generally learn the first few and last few items on a list. A more concerted effort is required to learn and remember items in the middle, however. This can be improved by making the middle items more memorable in some way. The effects can also be diminished by adding a delay between exposure to the list and recall; for example, a person who memorizes a grocery list at home will likely forget a few items if the shopping does not take place for a few hours. Serial position effect becomes a factor whenever a person encounters any sort of series of items; for instance, during an eight-commercial break in a television show, the viewer is more likely to remember the first and last commercials than any of the commercials in between.
Advertisers, web designers, and others who rely on people absorbing information that they provide often compensate for these effects. They place the key information in their ads, educational resources, etc., in the first and last positions in any lists or list-like materials. For example, an ad that lists the features of a product will have the items most likely to affect the consumer's choice or prompt a purchase at the beginning and end of the list. A website aimed at convincing someone to support a particular cause will put the most inspirational details at the beginning and end of a page.
Those responsible for these same ads, websites, and other information sources can use serial position effect to their benefit in another way as well. When they are required to share information—such as a possible side effect or a hidden cost—but do not want to emphasize it and encourage viewers to remember, the information can be downplayed by placing it in the middle of the list.
If it is necessary for people to remember as much as possible from a list, the creator of the list can take some steps to make it more memorable. Changing the font color or size or using italics or bold effects will make items in the middle of the list stand out, for instance. Researchers have found that this improves a person's ability to remember these items. This is known as the Von Restorff effect. It is named after psychiatrist Hedwig von Restorff (1906–1962), who discovered it. Also known as the isolation effect, it is based on the idea that anything that makes the item stand out or isolates it from the rest of the list will make it more memorable. The effect takes advantage of the human tendency to remember the unusual over the normal. An advertiser who wants a commercial to stand out from numerous ads will strive to make it unusual or notable in some way so that it is more memorable.
Serial position effect also occurs in some situations that do not involve lists. One example is at the point of purchase in a store display. Researchers have determined that whether a person sees the item's price or the item itself first will affect how the purchasing decision is made. They have found that when the item is seen first, the consumer tends to make a decision based mostly on the individual's opinion of the item. When the consumer sees the price first, it is more likely that the cost and other factors will be considered, and the individual will make a more critical decision.
Bibliography
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Holst, Christian. "The Serial Position Effect in Web Design." Baymard Institute, 23 Oct. 2010, baymard.com/blog/serial-position-effect. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.
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“Why Do We Better Remember Items at the Beginning or End of a List? The Serial Position Effect, Explained.” The Decision Lab, thedecisionlab.com/biases/serial-position-effect. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.