Serial Position Curve

The Serial Position Curve describes how people tend to remember the first and last items in a list better than the middle ones. When recalling information, there's a strong tendency to remember the beginning (primacy effect) because those items are more likely to be transferred to long-term memory, and the end (recency effect) because they are still fresh in short-term memory. The middle items are often less well remembered. This pattern helps us understand how memory works when trying to recall sequences or lists, highlighting the importance of position in retention.