Further evidence for a negative recency effect in free recall

Abstract

The results of a previous experiment had indicated that the final words in a free-recall list were retrieved least well in a second recall session. This “negative recency effect” was found to hold for reminiscence items and, to some extent, for prior list intrusions in recall. Two further experiments showed that words retrieved in free recall were subsequently recognized less well if they had been presented late in their original input list. There was some evidence that a pattern of primacy and negative recency also held for the recognition of words not retrieved in free recall. It was concluded that terminal words in a free-recall list, although best recalled immediately, are thereafter least available in memory.