Abstract
When a sequence of visual stimuli is presented in a fixed location, immediate serial recall of the sequence is characterized by only a small recency effect. According to Battacchi, Pelamatti, and Umiltà (1990), the distribution of visual stimuli over space, as well as time, greatly enhances the recency effect. After an initial failure to find a strong visual recency effect with distributed presentation (Experiment 1), in the remaining experiments an attempt was made to more closely approximate Battacchi et al.’s methodology by eliminating articulatory suppression (Experiments 2–7), using their stimuli (Experiments 3–7), blocking conditions (Experiments 4–7), requiring written rather than typed responses (Experiments 5–7), and using their list length (Experiments 6 and 7). Nevertheless, even when their method was followed as closely as possible (Experiment 7), distributed presentation did not produce a strong visual recency effect. The influence of distributed presentation on the visual recency effect would seem to be, at best, limited.
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This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH35873 awarded to Michael J. Watkins. The article benefited from suggestions by Marco W. Battacchi, Robert G. Crowder, Stephanie H. LeCompte, Robert W. Proctor, Henry L. Roediger III, and Arthur Samuel.
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Lecompte, D.C. In search of a strong visual recency effect. Memory & Cognition 20, 563–572 (1992). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199588
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199588