Current models account for the primacy effect in memory and impression formation
Current scientific models and empirical findings regarding the primacy effect in memory and impression formation are mixed, with robust support in certain evaluative and long-term memory contexts alongside demonstrated recency effects or boundary conditions in legal and working memory domains.
The claim touches on two broad domains: memory (serial position primacy) and impression formation. Papers [0], [4], and [11] support the existence and modeling of primacy effects in impression development, implicit evaluations, and long-term memory tasks. Conversely, papers [7] and [8] highlight instances where primacy fails to materialize or is replaced by recency effects in working memory and legal decision-making contexts. Therefore, the overall literature reflects a nuanced or contested consensus rather than universal accounting.
Marco Brambilla, S. Sacchi, P. Rusconi, Geoffrey P. Goodwin. The primacy of morality in impression development: Theory, research, and future directions. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2021.03.001
Research shows that moral trait information maintains a dominant, early-stage role in shaping overall impression development.
Forsberg A, Guitard D, Greene NR, Naveh-Benjamin M, Cowan N. Differential information transfer and loss between working memory and long-term memory across serial positions.. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001437
Findings indicate that serial position effects do not always show robust primacy in working memory, demonstrating dissociation from long-term memory.
See more details
E. Fourakis, Jeremy Cone. Matters Order: The Role of Information Order on Implicit Impression Formation. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550619843930
Experimental findings confirm that strong primacy effects operate even at the implicit level during impression formation.
Linda Becker, Nicolas Rohleder. Time course of the physiological stress response to an acute stressor and its associations with the primacy and recency effect of the serial position curve. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1101/568352
Studies utilize the primacy effect of serial position curves as reliable indicators for long-term memory performance.
Maegherman E, Ask K, Horselenberg R, van Koppen PJ, van Koppen PJ. Law and order effects: on cognitive dissonance and belief perseverance.. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2020.1855268
Results show that legal evidence presentation can yield recency rather than primacy effects depending on context.
The paper trail · every fact has a biography
Challenge the receipt
Citation formatting by citeproc-js (Frank Bennett) and the Citation Style Language project. Source and licenses.
Terms · Privacy · How verdicts work · Dispute this receipt