The Serial Position Experiment

The Serial Position Experiment

The serial position effect shows how an individual’s ability to recall pieces of information is influenced by the position of information in a sequence. The serial position shows the cognitive bias in memory. The main concepts of cognitive bias in the serial effect are the primary and recency effects. The primacy effect shows how individuals are more biased in recalling information within the first positions, while the recency effect creates a bias to recall information in the last positions as compared to the information in the middle of the list (Calandri et al., 2019). Therefore, the serial order can help one understand the creation and development of memory and how information is retrieved. This report presents an experiment using CogLab 2.0 to test the serial position effect and its effect on free recall.

Methods

The experiment was performed using CogLab 2.0 on a CD. The aim of the experiment was to determine the effect of serial position on free recall for items. A male 35-year-old male was selected to participate in the experiment. After entering his details into the Serial Position Experiment windows, the participant was presented with a window and instructions on what to do. They were to click on the “Next” button to start each trial. Next, the participant was then presented with a list of items or letters in a sequence. They were then expected to recall them in either an unordered or an ordered manner for 15 sequences. Each trial required the participant to click buttons corresponding to letters in the sequence before proceeding to the next sequence. Only a maximum of 10 buttons are clickable per sequence, and each button is clickable only once. The serial position of the item was the independent variable in this experiment, while the proportion of times a letter was recalled at each position was the dependent variable.

Results

The participant was presented with random numbers and was allowed to recall the sequences in any order.

Table 1: Data summary for experiment Serial Position

Table 1 above presents a data summary for the Serial Position experiment.

Table 2: Trial-by-trial data

Table 2 above presents the letters that were presented and the responses for each trial.

Figure 1: % correct times the item was recalled as a function of its original serial position.

Figure 1 above shows a graph of the proportion of times each item was recalled as a function of its original serial position.

Summary

The data summary and plot graph showed that the participant scored highest, 93.333336% when recalling the last four items and the average of the first three items in each sequence. However, the score was the lowest when recalling the items in the middle of each sequence. This confirms the recency effect and primacy effect in recalling serial orders and positions. It was surprising how the participant was able to easily recall the last three numbers, but the numbers close to the middle of the list were hard to recall. A study by Logan (2020)  proved that the perception of serial orders and memory of the orders is guided by the same mechanisms of encoding items and memories. In addition, it is worth noting that the size and shape of the items, rehearsal time and strategy, and order could have influenced the Serial Position Experiment results. Also, according to Dimsdale-Zucker et al. (2018), false memories can also affect the serial position.

References

Calandri, I., Martín, M. E., Méndez, P. C., Helou, B., Clarens, M. F., Crivelli, L., & Allegri, R. (2019). Serial-position effect as a biomarker in the differential diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. A multimodal biomarkers approach. (P3.1-018). Neurology, 92(15 Supplement).

Dimsdale-Zucker, H. R., Flegal, K. E., Atkins, A. S., & Reuter-Lorenz, P. A. (2018). Serial position-dependent false memory effects*. Memory, 27(3), 397–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2018.1513039

Logan, G. D. (2020). Serial order in perception, memory, and action. Psychological Review, 128(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1037/REV0000253

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The Serial Position Experiment

Using CogLab, complete the serial position experiment and create a report on the experiment.

In your report, write a brief introduction explaining what the serial position effect is. In addition, some representative research on this effect should be included. Next, in the Methods section, describe the process that you followed to complete the experiment, including a description of the materials used and the stimuli. Ensure that enough information is included so that others can perform the same experiment successfully.

Finally, describe the experimental results. In addition, determine if the experiment showed primacy and recency effects. Provide a rationale to support your answer. Summarize your report, including answers to the following questions:

Were the results in accordance with your expectations? Provide a rationale to support your answer.
Did anything about the experiment surprise you? If yes, what?
What factors would influence the results of the serial position experiment?