The serial position effect provides support for the existence of
A) only one memory system.
B) distinctive sensory memory and long-term memory.
C) distinctive short-term memory and long-term memory.
D) distinctive sensory memory and short-term memory.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The serial position effect refers to the tendency for people to remember items at the beginning and end of a list better than items in the middle. This supports the idea that there are distinct memory systems - short-term memory (which holds information for a short period of time) and long-term memory (which holds information for a longer period of time) - because it suggests that items at the beginning of the list are being transferred from short-term memory to long-term memory, and items at the end of the list are still in short-term memory. It does not necessarily provide support for the existence of distinctive sensory memory, as the serial position effect is related to the order in which items are presented and not necessarily to the sensory modalities in which they are presented. And while the effect could be related to the idea of distinctiveness (i.e. the items at the beginning and end of the list are more distinctive than those in the middle), it primarily speaks to the idea of different memory systems.

The Serial Position Effect Provides Support for the Existence of