Serial Position Effect

[Ready for Fall 2026]

Modified: 2026-08-03 6:57 PM CDST

• One way to study learning is to present subjects with a series of items to remember.
  • Those items could be words, nonsense syllables, numbers, or any other similar items.
  • Many real-life situations mimic the serial task described above.
  • For example, remembering the order of songs on a record, memorizing a poem, or studying a chapter in this course.

• All such serial tasks have several characteristics in common.
  • The words primacy and recency describe two of those characteristics.
    • Participants are much more likely to remember items at the beginning of such a list; that effect is called primacy.
    • Similarly, subjects are also more likely to remember items at the end of a list, and that effect is called recency.
• Of more interest is the serial-position effect.
  • That effect describes the finding that subjects have a great deal of difficulty remembering items near the middle of serial lists.
  • You may have noticed the serial position effect in action if you have tried some of the serial tasks listed in the paragraph above.
  • Use the list below to demonstrate serial learning.
  • Memorize it and keep track of your own errors.
  • Early on, you should find that items in the middle of the list are hardest to learn.

Cow

Brat

Leaf

Door

Shovel

Cup

Glass

Pillow