Murdoch's "remembering a list" experiment described the serial position curve and found that memory is best for ___________ of a list.
A) the first words
B) the middle words
C) the last words
D) both the first and last words

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Murdoch's "remembering a list" experiment found that memory is best for both the first and last words of a list. This is due to the primacy and recency effect. The primacy effect is the tendency to remember the first few items on a list because they have had more time to be rehearsed into long-term memory. The recency effect is the tendency to remember the last few items on a list because they are still in short-term memory.

Murdoch's "Remembering a List" Experiment Described the Serial Position Curve