Psychology MCAT Practice Exam

What phenomenon describes the difficulty in recalling items in the middle of a list?

1. Primacy effect

2. Recency effect

3. Signal detection theory

4. Serial position effect

The correct answer is: Serial position effect

The phenomenon that describes the difficulty in recalling items in the middle of a list is the serial position effect. This effect is a cognitive phenomenon observed in memory tests where people's recall of items is influenced by their position in a sequence. Specifically, it suggests that items at the beginning (primacy effect) and the end (recency effect) of a list are more easily recalled than items in the middle. The primacy effect occurs because items at the beginning are often rehearsed more and transferred to long-term memory, while the recency effect occurs because the items at the end are still fresh in short-term memory. In contrast, the items in the middle are less likely to be rehearsed and thus experience a significant recall disadvantage, leading to difficulties when trying to remember them. Understanding this effect is crucial in exploring the nature of human memory and recall processes.