A Unifying Principle of Memory Span, Forgetting, and Serial Position Effect

Abstract

Lists of 5 to 10 digits, spoken at the rate of 2 digits per second, were presented to 10 Ss. The last digit in each list also occurred earlier in the list, and S's task was to write down the digit that followed the last one on its prior occurrence. The data were analyzed as measures of memory span, forgetting, and the serial position effect. These three phenomena were then related to one another by means of a principle that described how the probability of recall of each item in a list varied as a function of the numbers of preceding and following items. The effects of presentation rate and delayed recall were also discussed.