Serial Position Effect

The tendency to best remember the first items (primacy) and last items (recency) in a list, while forgetting those in the middle.

First items get more rehearsal time and enter long-term memory (primacy). Last items are still fresh in working memory (recency). Middle items get neither advantage.

• Remembering the first and last items on a grocery list but forgetting the middle.
• Job candidates interviewed first or last being rated higher than those in the middle.
• The opening and closing acts of a concert being most memorable.

• Put the most important information at the beginning or end of presentations.
• When studying, pay extra attention to material in the middle of a session.
• Use written lists rather than relying on memory for important sequences.
• Break long lists into smaller groups to reduce the effect.