The Experiential Basis of Serial Position Effects

Subjects studied eight lists in preparation for single-trial, free recall tests, but were tested only on four lists. They later received a recognition test over all lists and judged items as “old” or “new” and, when old, judged whether they actually remembered the occurrence of the word or knew that it occurred on some other basis. The chief findings were that (1) recall benefited later recognition of items at the end of the list; (b) recall increased “remember” responses; (c) serial position effects occurred in later recognition for both tested and non-tested lists; and (d) serial position effects were reflected in “remember” responses. Interpreted within Tulving's (1983; 1985) framework, primacy and recency effects in final recognition are episodic memory phenomena.