A distractor task at the end of a short-term memory list of items will likely reduce the _______ effect.
A) primacy
B) suffix
C) recency
D) serial

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The recency effect refers to the fact that we tend to have better recall for the items at the end of a list than those in the middle. A distractor task at the end of the list is likely to disrupt this effect by preventing the information from being rehearsed and transferred into long-term memory. The primacy effect refers to the better recall of items at the beginning of a list, and the suffix effect refers to the impaired recall of the last item in a list if it is followed by an irrelevant sound. The serial effect refers to the overall pattern of recall for items in a list, including both primacy and recency effects.

A Distractor Task at the End of a Short-Term Memory