PSYCH 1X03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4-7: Long-Term Memory
19 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
The serial position curve describes a typical pattern of remembering when participants recall a list of memorized words. Memory is strongest for items at the beginning and end of the list. Increased rehearsal of early items over later ones leads to the primacy effect. Items at the beginning of the list will be the first to enter short term memory and have the greatest opportunity to be rehearsed. Why does it occur: rehearsing items by repeating in a sequential order, early items = most rehearsed and have the best chance of being transferred into long term memory for permanent storage. Last items can be memorized better than the middle ones since they are most recently stored. The more recent items replace the previous items to occupy the short-term memory. As a result, memory performance will be good for the last few items because they"re still active in the short term memory storage system.
