Question

A research participant is asked to recall one at a time a list of 20 words he has just been asked to learn. When he recalls more words from the beginning than the middle of the list, it is called the _____ effect and is MOST likely due to recall from _____.

a. primacy; short-term memory
b. primacy; long-term memory
c. recency; short-term memory
d. recency; long-term memory

Answer 1

The phenomenon where more words from the beginning of the list are recalled is called the primacy effect and is associated with long-term memory.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a research participant recalls more words from the beginning of a list than from the middle, it is called the primacy effect and is MOST likely due to recall from long-term memory. This effect occurs because words at the beginning of a list are often rehearsed more, thus they are more deeply encoded and stored in long-term memory. In contrast, the recency effect refers to better recall for the words at the end of the list, as they are most recently heard and still present in short-term memory. The complete answer to the student's question is a. primacy; long-term memory.