Incentives, information, rehearsal, and the negative recency effect

Abstract

The negative recency effect is generally attributed to inadequate rehearsal of terminal input items during study. In two experiments, Ss were encouraged to increase rehearsal of initial or terminal input items by offers of incentives for remembering these items and information that there would be a delayed memory test (Experiment I) or by explicit instructions to rehearse terminal items and provision of added rehearsal time (Experiment II). Serial position curves in immediate and delayed recall were little affected by these manipulations. These results are more in line with models that give rehearsal the role of maintaining items in a short-term store than with models that accord rehearsal a role in transfer of information to a more permanent store.

Initial-retrieval “depth” and the negative recency effect

“…In addition, the two-store model predicts that additional rehearsal of terminal-position items will strengthen their long-term codes and reduce negative recency, whereas the processing-levels model predicts that additional rehearsal will increase their long-term accessibility only if the rehearsal involves elaborative processes. The results of Light's (1974) experiments favor the processing-levels model, since increased rehearsal of terminal-position items was not accompanied by decreased negative recency.…”

“…The inferential strength of the latter two experiments (Mazuryk, 1974;Mazuryk & Lockhart, 1974) suffers a complementary weakness: Different types of processing are shown to affect final recall of recency items, but the experiments do not show that subjects ordinarily use these different types of processing for prerecency and recency items. On the other hand, when the results of all four of the experiments and the results of Light's (1974) experiments are considered together, they provide convincing converging evidence that the type of processing plays a crucial role in producing negative recency effects.…”

“…Since the data cited above indicate that this is more likely if presen-RETRIEVAL "DEPTH" 591 tation is auditory, it is most appropriate to test this second prediction in an experiment that uses auditory presentation. Fortunately, Light (1974) has done just that. In a paired associate probe experiment similar to that of Madigan and McCabe (1971), Light (1974) informed subjects of the final recall test and offered monetary incentives for the final recall of terminal items.…”

“…Fortunately, Light (1974) has done just that. In a paired associate probe experiment similar to that of Madigan and McCabe (1971), Light (1974) informed subjects of the final recall test and offered monetary incentives for the final recall of terminal items. In a second experiment, Light explicitly instructed subjects to concentrate rehearsal on the terminal items and allowed extra rehearsal time for this purpose.…”

“…The general design of the experiment was similar to the probed recall, negative recency experiments by Light (1974), . In such probed recall experiments, short lists of paired associates are presented and, at the end of each list, recall of one of the response terms is probed by re-presenting the corresponding stimulus term.…”