Mrs. Pike's class is learning to spell twenty new words. They learn 5 words per day for four days Monday through Thursday). On Friday the students are given a spelling test on all 20 words. When Mrs. Pike is grading the tests, she notices that most students remembered the words that we taught on Thursday, but not on Monday through Wednesday. Which verbal learning principle can explain Mrs. Pike's spelling test results?
A) Primacy effect
B) Recency effect
C) Overlearning
D) Proactive inhibition

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The recency effect suggests that we have better memory recall for the most recently learned items. In this case, it seems that the students performed better on the words taught on Thursday because they were more recently learned and still fresh in the students' memory during the Friday spelling test.

Mrs Pike's Class Is Learning to Spell Twenty New Words