Book 2, Question 24
Why Do We Remember the First and Last Things on a List?
Have you ever learned a shopping list, and remembered the first and last items best? That happens because the start is fresh, and the end is recent. And the middle has to fight both!
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 2
More fun facts
- People tend to remember the first and last things in a list better than the middle ones. This is called the serial position effect.
- Remembering the first items better is called the primacy effect, and remembering the last items is called the recency effect.
- We get more time to repeat the first items in our heads, and we may pay more attention to them, so they are more likely to stick in long term memory.
- The last items are easy to recall because they are still in short term memory.
- In a famous 1966 study, 46 army volunteers saw a list of words and then wrote down as many as they could remember.
- Some wrote right away, while others first counted out loud for 10 or 30 seconds to stop them from repeating the words.
- After a 30 second wait, people still remembered the first words well, but the advantage for the last words was gone.
Sources: themantic-education.com
Questions kids ask
Why do I forget the middle of a list?
The first items get more practice and attention, and the last ones are still fresh in short term memory, so the middle gets the least help.