Serial position and rated importance in the recall of text

Abstract

Multiple regression was used to examine the relationship between the serial position and the rated importance of a proposition and the probability of its appearance in free recall protocols.A total of eight passages were each read and recalled by about 60 sixthgrade students. It was found that both rated importance and position predict recall.In addition, the quadratic of serial position is a significant predictor, indicating a recency effect. Neither the interaction term nor the quadratic of importance were significant, nor was there a significant correlation between importance and the linear or quadratic of position. Texts showing strong effects are discussed in some detail. Why have these discrepant results been found? Meyer and McConkie (1973) argued that the height of a proposition in the logical or ideational structure of a passage critically affects the probability of a proposition's appearance in a recall protocol.Authors tend to put higher-order information, it is argued, at the beginnings and ends of passages as introductions and conclusions--hence, the advantage of early-and late-appearing propositions.In this account, primacy and recency might be thought of as somewhat misleading terms in that they suggest that the temporal It has been consistently demonstrated in prose research that there is a positive relation between the importance of an element in the text and the probability of that element's being recalled (Gomulicki, 1956; Johnson, 1970). Elements in text can deriveimportance from a number of sources. A reader's background knowledge and perspective while reading serve to highlight particular elements and increase their memorability (Pichert & Anderson, 1977;Steffensen, Jogdeo, & Anderson, 1978). An element occupies a particular position in the logical hierarchy of ideas in a text.Elements high in the hierarchy are perceived as important and are more likely to be recalled (Meyer & McConkie, 1973; Meyer, 1975).Authors can signal important elements with underlinings, headings, etc., resulting again in increased probability of recall (Rothkopf & Bisbicos, 1967). There is also a category of elements that might be The data to be reported here arises from a compilation of findings from three experiments reported separately elsewhere , and in press). Materials and scoring procedures are described more fully in these reports. Method SubjectsIn total, 228 sixth-grade students from a small city in central Illinois participated in the study.As assessed by nationally normed achievement tests, these students were, on the average, one-half of one standard deviation above the mean achievement level. MaterialsEight passages of about 250-300 words each were used in this study. Four were adapted from the Scott Foresman Social Studies program for Grade 6. Four were written for the study in a similar vein and of the same length as the social studies passages. Students read Position, Importance, and Text Recall 5 either three (n = 146) or two (n = 82) of these passages, such that on the average each pa...

A Microanalysis of the Small-Group, Guided Reading Lesson: Effects of an Emphasis on Global Story Meaning

“…While the exact shape of the best fitting function varied depending upon the outcome measure, one common feature across measures was the decline in performance from the beginning to the end of stories. This result is roughly consistent with other data on the influence of the serial position on the learning and remembering of information in texts, except that an up turn in performance at the very end of the texts would be expected (Freebody & Anderson, 1986). Page position appeared several times in interactions with meaning versus surface emphasis and aspects of reading ability.…”

Searching for the right word: Hybrid visual and memory search for words

“…This U-shaped function has been found for lists stored in long-term memory up to a several weeks (Neath & Brown, 2006). Moreover, serial position has been shown as important predictor of recalled targets in coherent passages as well, (Deese & Kaufman, 1957; Rubin, 1977; Rubin 1978; Freebody & Anderson, 1981). Kelly, Neath & Surprenant (2012) found both primacy and recency effects in observers’ memory of cartoon theme song lyrics, the seven Harry Potter books, and two different sets of movies, all of which were thought to be recalled from semantic memory stores.…”

“…Freebody and Anderson (1981) showed that the higher rating of the semantic importance of a particular subsection of a passage, the more likely it was to be recalled. Therefore, in an extension of this finding, we might expect to find RT benefits for words that are rated as more semantically important in a given passage.…”

Phrase frequency effects in free recall: Evidence for redintegration

“…This curve represents the memory effects of primacy and recency that are often seen in free recall (e.g. Freebody & Anderson, 1986; Anderson & Bower, 1972; May & Sande, 1982). Random effects of participant and item on the intercept and a random effect of participant on word frequency were included in the model.…”