Serial position effects in implicit and explicit tests of memory.

Abstract

The effects of serial position at study on implicit and explicit tests of memory were investigated. Both primary and recency effects were observed in implicit tests of word-stem completion. These effects, however, were transient. No serial position effects were found in the second half of testing (Experiments 1 and 3) or when testing followed a 1-min, filled delay (Experiment 2). Serial position effects were also examined in explicit tests of cued recall. When performance on explicit cued recall was below ceiling levels, a primacy effect persisted throughout testing (Experiment 3). Similarly, in explicit tests of free recall, primacy effects were consistently observed, both with immediate testing (Experiments 1 and 3) and when testing followed a filled delay (Experiment 2).