SAT Reading & Writing · Rhetorical Synthesis
A student has researched the serial position effect and compiled the following notes: - Items presented at the beginning of a list are…
A student has researched the serial position effect and compiled the following notes:
- Items presented at the beginning of a list are often remembered better than items in the middle, an effect called primacy.
- Items presented most recently, at the end of a list, can also be remembered well immediately after the list ends, an effect called recency.
- Primacy and recency respond differently when a delay or distraction is introduced before recall is tested.
- Primacy is thought to result partly from having more opportunity to mentally rehearse early items.
- Recency is thought to result partly from those items still being available in short-term memory immediately after presentation.
- The rate at which a list is presented and how the list is structured can both affect these patterns.
The student wants to explain why primacy and recency should be understood as two separate mechanisms instead of a single memory principle. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
- Items presented at the beginning of a list are often remembered better than items in the middle, an effect called primacy.
- Items presented most recently, at the end of a list, can also be remembered well immediately after the list ends, an effect called recency.
- Primacy and recency respond differently when a delay or distraction is introduced before recall is tested.
- Primacy is thought to result partly from having more opportunity to mentally rehearse early items.
- Recency is thought to result partly from those items still being available in short-term memory immediately after presentation.
- The rate at which a list is presented and how the list is structured can both affect these patterns.
The student wants to explain why primacy and recency should be understood as two separate mechanisms instead of a single memory principle. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Answer and explanation
Answer: B: Because primacy and recency respond differently to delay and distraction, and rely on different underlying processes, rehearsal for early items and short-term availability for recent ones, they…
The goal specifically requires explaining why two mechanisms, not one, are at work, and B is the only choice that names both the differential response to delay and the distinct underlying processes behind each effect. A and D each describe only one of the two effects in isolation. C names a separate contributing factor without addressing the two-mechanism distinction.
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