In the second half of the 19th century, the German psychologist H. Ebbinghaus began a series of studies on the measurement of human memory. He proposed to study pure memory, that is, as a function in itself, without cultural or subjective interference. The scholar designed his experiments in such a way that in no way could memory be based on the meaning of the words used, and then he used meaningless syllables that the subjects had to memorize in the shortest possible time.
Based on his experiments, Ebbinghaus developed three theories, and according to his theory of the serial position effect, by memorizing the words one after another there is a greater possibility of remembering especially the words that are at the beginning, but also those that are at the end. from the list, the so-called effect recency. In this Psychology-Online article, we will delve into what is the recency effect in psychology.
What is the recency effect in psychology?
The effect recencyas its name suggests, is the tendency to better remember information presented more recently. For example, if you are trying to memorize a list of items, the recency effect indicates that you are more likely to remember the items on the list that you studied last. Reception is a component of the serial position effect, the aforementioned phenomenon for which the position of items in a list influences how well these items will be remembered.
Why does the recency effect occur?
The recency bias depends on the short term memory, also known as active or primary memory, whose ability is to keep a relatively small amount of information in the mind for a short period of time. This information is stored and kept active for use, but is not manipulated; In fact, storing a phone number that someone just recited to you long enough to compose it is a good example of short-term memory.
Short-term memory is limited in terms of capacity and duration: most information has a duration of between 20 and 30 seconds, without active maintenance; About four pieces of information can be stored in short-term memory for a short period.
Recency bias may occur, therefore, because we can easily remember items that are still temporarily stored in short-term memory. If information is not manipulated, it will be quickly lost and disappear from memory.
How the recency effect affects memory
In fact, the brain remembers two things in particular:
- The first thing seen or said (primacy effect), so it is recommended to start a presentation or speech, thus assuming with an important “advantage” for the people listening, since it will be more easily remembered.
- The last thing seen or said, that is, the recency effect, according to which it is recommended to conclude the presentation or speech with a convincing recapitulation of the main advantages offered and the differentiation factors themselves.
Since short-term memory has a limited capacity, each subsequent word in the list “excludes” the previous one; For this reason, the last words are more likely to be remembered than the middle ones. For example, on the part of political parties, special attention is paid to the position in which the intervention of their leader is located, since the arrangement in the central part of the interviews does not allow complete and certain memorization. As just said, the information that impresses the most is the one at the beginning or end of a sequence.
For some sales professionals, taking part in situations where they have several presentations in competition with each other is a common event: suppliers who are part of the shortlist of final candidates will be invited to make the presentation one after another at the same time. day. The client’s brain attends this series of presentations and then has to decide some selections, a procedure that generates a strong demand for brain energies. The same principle applies to the best part of the day to celebrate your presentation. The winning ideal is, therefore, to be the first or the last; if it is in the middle position, it will probably be less easy to remember and will have less impact. It must also be taken into account that at the end of the day the client’s brain begins to be tired and this affects their ability to receive and process messages.
Differences between the primacy effect and the recency effect
Recency bias is almost always described together with what is called the “primacy effect”, two interpretive models of how our memory stores the information we receive. Some information, The ones we receive first are stored in the so-called long-term memory.which means that they are more stable (the primacy effect, precisely), while those that are communicated to us at the end of a conversation are stored in short-term memory due to the recency effect. In these articles, you will find more information about the and the .
Recent studies on these phenomena have shown that, from the point of view of mnemonic retention, the most recent information is more relevant and, in particular, the recency effect in memory is predominant compared to the primacy effect, especially in situations in which the period between the receipt of information and any decision, even of a behavioral nature, that must be taken is short.
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This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Colombo, B. (2002). TUTTO Psychology and Pedagogy. Novara: DeAgostini.
- Corona, S. (2020). Effect primacy e recency. Come use it per farsi ricocordare. Retrieved from: https://www.samuelecorona.com/effetto-primacy-effetto-recency/
- DiLenna, A. (2014). Lean relationships. Come sviluppare relations snelle in azienda. Milan: Franco Angeli.