Question

learning objective: explain the factors related to encoding.

remembering the first and last items in a list of information displays ______.

a.) selection
b.) the keyword method
c.) the serial position effect
d.) overlearning

Explanation:

Analyze the question stem

The question asks to identify the term that describes the phenomenon of remembering the first and last items in a list of information.

Define the core memory concept

This phenomenon is a well-documented cognitive bias in psychology related to the Information Processing Model. It consists of two components:

• The primacy effect: better recall of items at the beginning of a list.
• The recency effect: better recall of items at the end of a list.

Evaluate the given options

• selection: This refers to focusing on specific stimuli while ignoring others, which does not describe this specific pattern of list recall.
• the keyword method: This is a mnemonic technique used to learn foreign vocabulary or paired associates, not a list-recall phenomenon.
• the serial position effect: This is the psychological term that directly describes the tendency to recall the first and last items in a list more successfully than the middle items.
• overlearning: This refers to practicing newly acquired skills beyond the point of initial mastery to improve long-term retention.

Select the correct option

Based on the definitions, the correct term is the serial position effect, which corresponds to option (c).

Answer:

• a.) selection
• b.) the keyword method
• c.) the serial position effect (Correct answer)
• d.) overlearning