A note on a cognitive probability model incorporating the serial position effect

A generalization of a cognitive probability model is proposed utilizing the serial position effect to account for decay in probability of recall. The general nature of the model permits the incorporation of almost any of the recent free-recall serial position curve results. Two examples, hypothesizing different serial position curves, are given.     

The serial position effect and different error types in anticipation learning

Abstract.— Minor modifications of the usual serial anticipation procedure did not affect the well-known Serial Position Effect (SPE), while the errors, i.e. Intra-list-Intrusions (ILI) and Failure-TeRespond (FTR), showed deviations from the usual distributions. It was therefore concluded that the SPE should not be analysed in terms of different error types, ILI and FTR. Transfer-to-position measured by means of a number-syllable paired association (PA) task, and a free-recall test of the original serial anticipation list measured after the termination of the PA-task showed a skewed and a symmetrical trend respectively. It was suggested that response-learning accounted for the symmetrical component of the SPE while association-to-position, contrary to prevailing views, was responsible for the skewed component.     

Concerning the role of perceptual factors in the serial position effect

The experiment described here addresses itself to the serial position effect of recall, and in particular to the cause of primacy. Two of the three theories discussed here (selective rehearsal and proactive interference) postulate competition between items during the storage interval as a cause of primacy, acquisition being assumed to be equal for all items. The third theory (differential perceptual processing) places the locus of the effect prior to the storage stage, and does not hold interactions between items to be essential to the effect after encoding. The experiment used this distinction between the two classes of theories, storage of the whole presentation (and hence interactions during storage) not being required. Only one word from each list was recalled, and this item was indicated to S on presentation, thereby eliminating the necessity to attempt to encode all items. The storage-interaction theories predict no primacy for the recall of individual items in this experiment, but the initial member of the list was recalled more often than the third member. This example of primacy lends support to the argument that the trace strengths of items are not always equal immediately after presentation.     

Three more semantic serial position functions and a SIMPLE explanation

There are innumerable demonstrations of serial position functions—with characteristic primacy and recency effects—in episodic tasks, but there are only a handful of such demonstrations in semantic memory tasks, and those demonstrations have used only two types of stimuli. Here, we provide three more examples of serial position functions when recalling from semantic memory. Participants were asked to reconstruct the order of (1) two cartoon theme song lyrics, (2) the seven Harry Potter books, and (3) two sets of movies, and all three demonstrations yielded conventional-looking serial position functions with primacy and recency effects. The data were well-fit by SIMPLE, a local distinctiveness model of memory that was originally designed to account for serial position effects in short- and long-term episodic memory. According to SIMPLE, serial position functions in both episodic and semantic memory tasks arise from the same type of processing: Items that are more separated from their close neighbors in psychological space at the time of recall will be better remembered. We argue that currently available evidence suggests that serial position functions observed when recalling items that are presumably in semantic memory arise because of the same processes as those observed when recalling items that are presumably in episodic memory.     

Within-day serial reversal of a position discrimination by pigeons

Naive (N = 3) and experienced (N = 3) pigeons performed 3 reversals of a simultaneous position discrimination to the same criterion each day. In terms of trials to criterion, or number of correct choices preceding the criterion run, daily first reversals (R1s) were, for both groups, more difficult than either second (R2s) or third reversals (R3s), which did not differ on these measures. The results are interpreted as giving good support to the hypothesis that little or no inhibition is generated in R1s, whereas inhibition does occur in R2s and R3s. An explanation of the relative lack of inhibition in R1s, which relies on concepts drawn from frustration theory, is proposed.     

A neo-Piagetian investigation of the serial position effect in children's motor learning

Children's serial motor skill acquisition was studied within a neo-Piagetian framework. High and low M-processors performed on a curvilinear repositioning task. A primacy-recency effect was evidenced for both groups on the age-related task, while a recency effect occurred for only the high M-processors on the task one stage beyond the developmental processing capacity of the subjects. High M-processors were more accurate and less variable than low M-processors. Although low M-processors performed better on the more complex task than on the simpler one, their performance never exceeded that of the high M-processors. Implications of these results for future research were discussed.     

Distinctiveness and serial position effects in recognition

Digitized photographs of snowflakes were presented for a recognition test after retention intervals of varying durations. While overall accuracy and discrimination remained constant, as the retention interval increased, primacy increased from chance to reliably better than chance while recency decreased to chance levels. A variation of Murdock’s (1960) distinctiveness model accounted for the changing primacy and recency effects observed in both between- and within-subjects designs. The generality of the model was examined in two different paradigms: lexical access during sentence processing, and free recall in the continual distractor paradigm. In both cases, the model made accurate qualitative predictions for both latency and accuracy measures.     

Timeout as a reinforcer for errors in a serial position task

After learning to press keys in a predetermined serial position sequence, with timeouts scheduled as a consequence of errors, monkeys developed stereotyped errors. As soon as a new trial started, the animals would make an error. On trial after trial, they pressed the same incorrect key at the first member of the sequence, even though they had previously learned the sequence. First-member errors occurred even when sequences of fully bright keys marking correct choices were presented. When timeout was eliminated as a consequence of one first-member error, subjects switched to an error that did produce the timeout. When all first-member errors failed to produce timeout the monkeys ceased responding. Both prefeeding and reduction in reinforcement density resulted in stereotyped errors occurring earlier in the session.     

Distinctiveness and serial position functions in implicit memory

Serial position functions, with their characteristic primacy and recency effects, are ubiquitous in episodic memory tasks, and have also been observed in tasks tapping semantic memory. However, only one experiment, [Raanaas, R. K., & Magnussen, S. (2006a). Serial position effects in implicit memory. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 18, 398–414. doi:10.1080/09541440500162065], has demonstrated primacy and recency effects in implicit memory using an indirect memory test. In Experiment 1, we replicate this finding and in Experiment 2, we confirm a prediction that holds only if the serial position function observed in Experiment 1 was a “real” serial position function. These results confirm the presence of serial position functions in implicit memory and also support a general prediction of the relative distinctiveness principle that serial position functions should obtain whenever a set of items are ordered along a relevant dimension.     

Distinctiveness and serial position effects in tonal sequences

The proportion-of-the-total-duration rule (Kidd & Watson, 1992) states that the detectability of a change in a component of a tonal sequence can be predicted by the proportional duration of the changed component relative to the length of the sequence as a whole. A similar viewpoint relies on temporal distinctiveness to account for primacy, recency, and other serial position effects in memory (Murdock, 1960; Neath, 1993a, 1993b). Such distinctiveness models predict that an item will be remembered if it is more distinctive along some dimension relative to possible competitors. Three experiments explored the relation between distinctiveness and proportional duration by examining the effects of the proportion of the total duration of a tone in a sequence, serial position, and interstimulus interval (ISI) on the detection of a change in one component of a tonal sequence. Experiment 1 replicated the basic effect with relatively untrained subjects and a fixed frequency difference. Experiment 2 showed that distinctiveness holds for tonal sequences and a same/different task. Experiment 3 combined the two to show that proportional duration, ISI, and position of the changed tone all contribute to discrimination performance. The present research combines theories that have been proposed in the psychophysics and memory fields and suggests that a comprehensive principle based on relative distinctiveness may be able to account for both perceptual and memory effects.     

Modelling serial position curves with temporal distinctiveness

We offer a critique of the temporal distinctiveness model of serial position effects (Nairne, Neath, Serra, & Byun, 1997). The temporal distinctiveness model combines a precise definition of stimulus distinctiveness with a memory perturbation process. The critique is empirically motivated-we show that with a more complete analysis, the temporal distinctiveness model does not adequately account for Nairne et al.'s experimental data. To better account for the data, we independently modified two components of Nairne et al.'s model: the mathematical form of the definition of temporal distinctiveness and the mathematical form of the mapping from distinctiveness to free-recall probabilities. Both of these modifications provided for better fits. Yet both Nairne et al.'s definition and our modified definition are fairly arbitrary. We show that a significant challenge to this approach is to find theoretically motivated constraints of the temporal distinctiveness model while providing for adequate fits to data.