title: The death of recency: Relationship between end-state comfort and serial position effects in serial recall: Logan and Fischman (2011) revisited.
abstract: Two experiments examined the dynamic interaction between cognitive resources in short-term memory and bimanual object manipulation by extending recent research by Logan and Fischman (2011). In Experiment 1, 16 participants completed a bimanual end-state comfort task and a memory task requiring serial recall of 12 words or pictures. The end-state comfort task involved moving two glasses between two shelves. Participants viewed the items, performed the end-state comfort task, and then serially recalled the items. Recall was evaluated by the presence or absence of primacy and recency effects. The end-state comfort effect (ESCE) was assessed by the percentage of initial hand positions that allowed the hands to end comfortably. The main findings indicated that the ESCE was disrupted; the primacy effect remained intact; and the recency effect disappeared regardless of the type of memory item recalled. In Experiment 2, 16 participants viewed six items, performed an end-state comfort task, viewed another six items, and then serially recalled all 12 items. Results were essentially the same as in Experiment 1. Findings suggest that executing a bimanual end-state comfort task, regardless of when it is completed during a memory task, diminishes the recency effect irrespective of the type of memory item.
authors: Oregon State University, School of Biological and Population Health Sciences, Women's Building 203b, 160 SW 26th St., Corvallis, OR 97331, USA. Electronic address: sam.logan@oregonstate.edu.
authors: Samuel W
authors: SW
authors: Logan
authors: Auburn University, School of Kinesiology, 301 Wire Road, Auburn, AL 36849, USA. Electronic address: fischmg@auburn.edu.
authors: Mark G
authors: MG
authors: Fischman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012691:Serial Learning; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Learning and memory; Motor processes