THE EXPERIENTIAL BASIS OF SERIAL POSITION EFFECTS

Subjects studied eight lists in preparation for single-trial, free rec all tests, but were tested only on four lists. They later received a r ecognition test over all lists and judged items as ''old'' or ''new'' and, when old, judged whether they actually remembered the occurrence of the word or knew that it occurred on some other basis. The chief fi ndings were that (1) recall benefited later recognition of items at th e end of the list; (b) recall increased ''remember'' responses; (c) se rial position effects occurred in later recognition for both tested an d non-tested lists; and (d) serial position effects were reflected in ''remember'' responses. Interpreted within Tulving's (1983; 1985) fram ework, primacy and recency effects in final recognition are episodic m emory phenomena.