A subject was told to study the following words: book, chair, calendar, alarm, phone, lamp, pencil, and desk. Later he recalled book, chair, pencil, and desk. This result is best explained as

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The serial position effect explains this result, as it suggests people tend to remember the first (primacy effect) and last (recency effect) items in a list better than the middle items. The subject remembered the first and last items (book, chair, pencil, desk) more effectively, which is consistent with the serial position effect.

A Subject Was Told to Study the Following Words: Book