Professor Anderson is conducting a memory study. Participants learn a word list and then they have to wait 30 seconds before trying to recall the list. During the 30 seconds, participants have to count backwards by three's. What is she researching?
A)Iconic memory in sensory store
B)State dependent memory
C)The serial position effect
D)Surface encoding
E)Priming

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Professor Anderson is researching the serial position effect, which refers to the tendency of a person to recall the first and last items in a series best, and the middle items worst. The task of counting backwards by three's during the 30-second interval is likely designed to prevent rehearsal, thus affecting how well participants remember items from the beginning (primacy effect) and end (recency effect) of the list.

Professor Anderson Is Conducting a Memory Study