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MEMORY SPAN AND THE SKEWNESS OF THE SERIAL-POSITION CURVE.

Three experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that the skewness of the serial-position curve is determined, at least in part, by memory span. Expt. I showed that the degree of skewness of the serial-position curve is positively related to the length of the subject's immediate memory span....

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Published in:British Journal of Psychology Vol. 54; no. 4; pp. 337 - 350
Main Authors: JENSEN, A R, RODEN, A
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell 1963
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:Three experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that the skewness of the serial-position curve is determined, at least in part, by memory span. Expt. I showed that the degree of skewness of the serial-position curve is positively related to the length of the subject's immediate memory span. Memory span for sequences of colour-forms was determined for 47 subjects (university students). Eleven subjects with the highest span (HS) and 11 subjects with the lowest span (LS) were compared in the serial learning of a 9-item list of colour forms. The HS group produced significantly more skewed serial position curves both for overt errors and for failures to respond than did the LS group. Expt. II investigated the effects of prolonged practice on serial learning. Three subjects each learned a different 9-item list of colour-forms every day for 4 weeks (20 days). Practice increased the ease of serial learning to the point that the entire list could be comprehended within the subjects' memory span. There was a corresponding increase in the skewness of the serial-position curve as a function of amount of practice. Expt. III tested the hypothesis that a list of items for which subjects have a relatively long memory span would produce a more skewed serial-position curve than would a list composed of items for which subjects have a relatively short memory span. Forty subjects each learned a 12-item list of single letters (in a random order) and a 12-item list of 3-letter nonsense syllables. As predicted, the list composed of single letters produced a significantly more skewed serial-position curve than did the list of nonsense syllables.