recency effect

a memory phenomenon in which the most recently presented facts, impressions, or items are learned or remembered better than material presented earlier. This effect can occur in both formal learning situations and social contexts. For example, it can result in inaccurate ratings of a person’s abilities due to the inordinate influence of the most recent information received about that person. Also called law of recency; principle of recency; recency error. Compare negative recency; primacy effect.

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Psychology term of the day

December 7th 2024

input

n. the signals fed into a communication channel together with the energy put into a system. In the context of the interaction between a person and a computer, input usually refers to data or instructions fed into the computer. Compare output.