Link to this page
Thesaurus of the Cognitive Psychology of Human Memory
Last uploaded:
May 20, 2026
No main scheme defined in the URI property
Please select a collection to display
| Id | http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/P66-DZZPGZ5R-G
http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/P66-DZZPGZ5R-G
|
|---|---|
| Preferred Name | primacy effect |
| Definitions |
A serial position effect characterized by a better memory for items placed at the beginning of a study list.
|
| Synonyms |
principle of primacy
law of primacy
|
| Type | http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#Concept |
All Properties
| definition | A serial position effect characterized by a better memory for items placed at the beginning of a study list. |
|---|---|
| altLabel |
principle of primacy
law of primacy
|
| prefLabel | primacy effect
|
| exactMatch | |
| memberOf | |
| related | |
| type | |
| hasStudyMethod | |
| moderatorVariable | • Type of recall: in serial recall, the primacy effect is larger than the recency effect.
• Word frequency: common words accentuate the effect compared to rare words
• Word imaginability: words that are easier to visualize mentally enhance the effect.
• Presentation rate: the effect is reduced when the item presentation rate increases.
• List length : the effect is reduced when the number of items in the list increases
• Association between items in the list: similar items accentuate the effect
• Anterograde amnesia: no primacy effect
• Interfering activity between each item presentation: decrease of the effect.
See more
See less
|
| bibliographicCitation | Glanzer, M., & Cunitz, A. R. (1966). Two storage mechanisms in free recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 5(4), 351‑360. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(66)80044-0
Zwaan, R. A., Pecher, D., Paolacci, G., Bouwmeester, S., Verkoeijen, P., Dijkstra, K., & Zeelenberg, R. (2018). Participant Nonnaiveté and the reproducibility of cognitive psychology. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 25(5), 1968‑1972. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-017-1348-y
Murdock, B. B. Jr. (1962). The serial position effect of free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64(5), 482–488. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045106
|
| broader | |
| creator | Frank Arnould
|
| inScheme | |
| created | December 4, 2017
|
| modified | November 20, 2025
|
| Delete | Subject | Author | Type | Created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No notes to display |