THE PRIMACY MODEL - A NEW MODEL OF IMMEDIATE SERIAL-RECALL

A new model of immediate serial recall is presented: the primacy model . The primacy model stores order information by means of the assumptio n that the strength of activation of successive list items decreases a cross list position to form a primacy gradient. Ordered recall is supp orted by a repeated cycle of operations involving a noisy choice of th e most active item followed by suppression of the chosen item. Word-le ngth and list-length effects are attributed to a decay process that oc curs both during input, when effective rehearsal is prevented, and dur ing output. The phonological similarity effect is attributed to a seco nd stage of processing at which phonological confusions occur. The pri macy model produces accurate simulations of the effects of word length , list length, and phonological similarity.