Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is the Primacy Effect?CausesResearchInfluencesMemoryImpact
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is the Primacy Effect?
Causes
Research
Influences
Memory
Impact
Close
Have you ever been asked to memorize a list of items? Or just been given a list of items that you tried to remember? If so, you might have noticed that it’s easier to remember the very first items and the very last items on the list, but the ones in the middle are a bit hazy. This is due to something researchers refer to as the “primacy effect.”
Verywell / Jessica Olah
In simplest terms, the primacy effect refers to the tendency to recall information presented at the start of a list better than information at the middle or end.
This is acognitive biasthat is believed to relate to the tendency to rehearse and relate memory storage systems.
Primacy vs. Recency Effect
In contrast to the primacy effect, the recency effect refers to the tendency for people to more easily recall items that are presented last in a list. In the case of the recency effect, this is likely due to those items being the most recent and therefore still being held in your short-term memory.
When you consider the primacy and recency effect in tandem, what you see is a u-shaped curve, also known as the serial position curve, for the recall of items on a list.
The Recency Effect in Psychology
Causes of the Primacy Effect
What are the precise causes of the primacy effect? There are several causes that relate to how well information is attended to, practiced, and then later stored.
Rehearsal
Attention Span
There’s also a second reason related to attention span. People are more likely to payattentionat the beginning and at the end of the presentation of a list of items, and so those are more likely to be remembered.
Think back to the last conversation you had, the paragraph you read, show you watched, or podcast you listened to. Chances are you may have zoned out at some points during the middle but probably were paying attention at both the beginning and the end.
Memory Limitations
Finally, the primacy effect likely persists because of limits in memory. A person might be able to store those first few items tolong-term memory, and those last few items might reside inshort-term memory, but the ones in the middle never get stored.
Early Studies on the Primacy Effect
Much research has focused on examining the primacy effect, going all the way back to the 1940s. In the typical study, participants are presented with a list of words, each shown for a fixed amount of time. After the words are presented, the participants are asked to write down all of the words from the list that they can remember.
Asch (1946)
Solomon Asch first examined the primacy effect in a study using sentences with reversed order of adjectives. In the study using two groups, a character was described as either “envious, stubborn, critical, impulsive, industrious, and intelligent” or “intelligent, industrious, impulsive, critical, stubborn, and envious.” The results showed that the second description led to the person being rated more highly.
Murdoch (1962)
This study showed that the probability of recalling words on the list depended on their position on the list. Specifically, those at the beginning and the end were remembered more often.
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)
In 1966, Glanzer and Cunitz gave two groups of participants the same list of words. One group was asked to immediately recall the words after being presented the list, while the other was asked to count backward in threes for 30 seconds before they had to recall the list.
The study results showed that preventing rehearsal in this way meant that both the primacy and recency effects disappeared.
What Influences the Primacy Effect
Memory and the Primacy Effect
Researchers have concluded that the primacy effect supports the idea of two separate memory systems at work: short-term memory (recency effect) and long-term memory (primacy effect).
This highlights that people are drawing on two different types of memory when they demonstrate the primacy and recency effect.
Impact of the Primacy Effect
How can you put this information about the primacy effect to use in your own life? Understanding the impact that the primacy effect might have on your decisions might help you make better judgments about a wide range of things.
Decision Making for Complex Choices
One important takeaway is that the way in which we receive information is a critical factor during complexdecision-making processes. This might come into play when making a large purchase or an important decision in our lives.
Marketing experts are aware of this cognitive bias and use it to their advantage. They want your first impression and the last impression of a product to be positive. This is why you will see advertising for a product that is not yet available. It is also why a company will add extra finishing touches such as special packaging for a product. They want your first impression and last impression to be positive because these are the things that will matter.
Anchoring Effects
The primacy effect also has an important influence on a type of cognitive bias known as theanchoring bias. This bias involves relying too heavily on the first piece of information you receive (the “anchor”) and neglecting any subsequent information you learn. The bias can have a wide range of effects on decision-making including how much you are willing to pay for something.
Research has also shown that it can have an effect on how doctors diagnose and treat illnesses accurately. The initial assessment a physician makes about a patient’s health or illness creates an impression that then influences the assessment the doctor makes in the future.
Making a Lasting Impression
If there is something that you want to stand out: say it first, say it last, or both! This is when it is most likely to be remembered. If you’re trying to convince someone of something, repeat your message several times so that it is remembered. Remember that serial position matters as well as the content of your message (positive vs. negative), so it’s important to put this knowledge to use.
Learning and Studying
If you are a student, you can also put this information to use in yourlearning strategies. Become aware of your tendency to remember things from the beginning and end of what you study, and change up the position so that you can eventually store everything to your long-term memory.
Try focusing on particularly difficult concepts at the beginning of your study sessions and conclude each session with another quick review of that information.
A Word From Verywell
As if you already didn’t have enough to remember, now you’ve got to remember what you might forget to remember! In its simplest terms, the primacy effect refers to our tendency to remember the first things we hear in a series. This makes logical sense, but it’s not something you’d typically think about.
So the next time you find yourself in a high-pressure sales situation, trying to make a positive impression, or cramming for an exam, put this information to use.
Gather your research so you won’t be unduly influenced, say what you want people to remember most first, and change up the order in which you study things so that you’re more likely to remember everything.
What do you remember most from this article? Step away for a moment and try to list the main points you remember. Then check if you have also become an example of the primacy effect in action in your own life.
What Is Memory?
1 SourceVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Saposnik G, Redelmeier D, Ruff CC, Tobler PN.Cognitive biases associated with medical decisions: A systematic review.BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2016;16(1):138. doi:10.1186/s12911-016-0377-1Additional ReadingGlanzer M, Cunitz AR.Two storage mechanisms in free recall.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior.1966;5(4):351-360. doi:10.1016/S0022-5371(66)80044-0Murdock BB.The serial position effect of free recall.Journal of Experimental Psychology.1962;64(5):482-488. doi:10.1037/h0045106Pineño O, Miller RR.Primacy and recency effects in extinction and latent inhibition: a selective review with implications for models of learning.Behav Processes. 2005;69(2):223-235. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2005.02.006Rey A, Le Goff K, Abadie M, Courrieu P.The primacy order effect in complex decision making.Psychol Res. April 2019. doi:10.1007/s00426-019-01178-2
1 Source
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Saposnik G, Redelmeier D, Ruff CC, Tobler PN.Cognitive biases associated with medical decisions: A systematic review.BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2016;16(1):138. doi:10.1186/s12911-016-0377-1Additional ReadingGlanzer M, Cunitz AR.Two storage mechanisms in free recall.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior.1966;5(4):351-360. doi:10.1016/S0022-5371(66)80044-0Murdock BB.The serial position effect of free recall.Journal of Experimental Psychology.1962;64(5):482-488. doi:10.1037/h0045106Pineño O, Miller RR.Primacy and recency effects in extinction and latent inhibition: a selective review with implications for models of learning.Behav Processes. 2005;69(2):223-235. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2005.02.006Rey A, Le Goff K, Abadie M, Courrieu P.The primacy order effect in complex decision making.Psychol Res. April 2019. doi:10.1007/s00426-019-01178-2
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Saposnik G, Redelmeier D, Ruff CC, Tobler PN.Cognitive biases associated with medical decisions: A systematic review.BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2016;16(1):138. doi:10.1186/s12911-016-0377-1
Glanzer M, Cunitz AR.Two storage mechanisms in free recall.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior.1966;5(4):351-360. doi:10.1016/S0022-5371(66)80044-0Murdock BB.The serial position effect of free recall.Journal of Experimental Psychology.1962;64(5):482-488. doi:10.1037/h0045106Pineño O, Miller RR.Primacy and recency effects in extinction and latent inhibition: a selective review with implications for models of learning.Behav Processes. 2005;69(2):223-235. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2005.02.006Rey A, Le Goff K, Abadie M, Courrieu P.The primacy order effect in complex decision making.Psychol Res. April 2019. doi:10.1007/s00426-019-01178-2
Glanzer M, Cunitz AR.Two storage mechanisms in free recall.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior.1966;5(4):351-360. doi:10.1016/S0022-5371(66)80044-0
Murdock BB.The serial position effect of free recall.Journal of Experimental Psychology.1962;64(5):482-488. doi:10.1037/h0045106
Pineño O, Miller RR.Primacy and recency effects in extinction and latent inhibition: a selective review with implications for models of learning.Behav Processes. 2005;69(2):223-235. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2005.02.006
Rey A, Le Goff K, Abadie M, Courrieu P.The primacy order effect in complex decision making.Psychol Res. April 2019. doi:10.1007/s00426-019-01178-2
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