Serial-Position effect

Describe the three theories used to explain the Serial-Position effect. From your experience, does one of the theories represent a more appropriate explanation of the effect? Explain your position.

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1. Describe the three theories used to explain the Serial-Position effect. From your experience, does one of the theories represent a more appropriate explanation of the effect? Explain your position.

Research supports the serial position effect, where researchers have found that the likelihood of recalling items (such as words, letters, or numbers) depends on the items position in a list. For example, there is a common finding. First, words at the beginning (primary effect) and end of the list (recency effect) are often easier and more accurately recalled than those words in the middle of the list. Thus, there is improved recall for words at the beginning and end of the list. This means that the theory proposes that when plotted on a graph, the results of a free recall are a u-shaped serial position curve.

Theories have been proposed to explain the serial position effect: recency and primacy theory, and position theory.

RECENCY AND LATENCY THEORY

? Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) introduced explanation for primacy and recency effect theories. The primacy effect is a result of the greater amount of attention and rehearsal allocated to the first few items on a list. This advantage in processing given to those items allows them to be transferred into the …