Retention Intervals and Serial List Memory

Abstract

Pictorial stimuli were presented in serial lists and tested for recognition. 11 men and 9 women participated at retention intervals of 5, 15, and 25 sec. The length of retention interval interacted with primacy and recency effects as observed in earlier studies of abstract stimuli, indicating similar basic memory functions for different types of visual stimuli. A shift from recency to primacy dominance remained despite the likelihood of verbal rehearsal. At short retention intervals a recency effect predominated and with longer delays a primacy effect predominated recognition.