scholarly journals Serial-position effects on a free-recall task in bilinguals

Memory ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeewon Yoo ◽  
Margarita Kaushanskaya
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Serra

People demonstrate a memory advantage for animate (living) concepts over inanimate (nonliving) concepts in a variety of memory tasks, including free recall, but we do not know the mechanism(s) that produces this effect. We compared the retrieval dynamics (serial-position effects, probability of first recall, output order, categorical clustering, and recall contiguity) of animate and inanimate words in a typical free recall task to help elucidate this effect. Participants were more likely to recall animate than inanimate words, but we found few, if any, differences in retrieval dynamics by word type. The animacy advantage was obtained across serial position, including occurring in both the primacy and recency regions of the lists. Participants were equally likely to recall an animate or inanimate word first on the tests and did not prioritize recalling words of one type earlier in retrieval or demonstrate strong clustering by animacy at recall. Participants showed some greater contiguity of recall for inanimate words, but this outcome ran counter to the animacy effect. Together, the results suggest that the animacy advantage stems from increased item-specific memory strength for animate over inanimate words and is unlikely to stem from intentional or strategic differences in encoding or retrieval by word type, categorical strategies, or differences in temporal organization. Although the present results do not directly support or refute any current explanations for the animacy advantage, we suggest that measures of retrieval dynamics can help to inspire or constrain future accounts for this effect and can be incorporated into relevant hypothesis testing.


1969 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 893-894
Author(s):  
Jeffrey R Sampson

48 male Ss were presented 24 items, half as words and half as simple line drawings, with or without instructions to try to remember them. Ss given a learning set reported rehearsing items during stimulus presentation, while non-set Ss did not. Free recall performance showed a serial-position factor which interacted with the set-non-set condition; primacy was much stronger and recency somewhat weaker for the rehearsing (set) Ss. This result supports conjectures of other investigators concerning the effects of rehearsal on serial position phenomena.


1976 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Gorfein ◽  
Christopher Arbak ◽  
Robert V. Phillips ◽  
Linda Squillace

GeroPsych ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 161-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nienke A. Hofrichter ◽  
Sandra Dick ◽  
Thomas G. Riemer ◽  
Carsten Schleussner ◽  
Monique Goerke ◽  
...  

Hippocampal dysfunction and deficits in episodic memory have been reported for both Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Primacy performance has been associated with hippocampus-dependent episodic memory, while recency may reflect working memory performance. In this study, serial position profiles were examined in a total of 73 patients with MDD, AD, both AD and MDD, and healthy controls (HC) by means of CERAD-NP word list memory. Primacy performance was most impaired in AD with comorbid MDD, followed by AD, MDD, and HC. Recency performance, on the other hand, was comparable across groups. These findings indicate that primacy in AD is impaired in the presence of comorbid MDD, suggesting additive performance decrements in this specific episodic memory function.


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