The Sources of Visual Recency: Movement and Language in Serial Recall

Abstract

Four experiments examine the importance of movement—the sequential ordering of stimulus features—in producing recency in the ordered serial recall of visual lists. The written recall of handsigns produced more recency when they were seen moving than still (Experiment I). Number lists presented as moving bar figures showed more recency than numbers which were displayed in the normal way with all features displayed simultaneously (Experiment II). The order in which features of abstract shapes are displayed can, itself, determine recency (Experiment III). However, a final experiment showed that still lip pictures of speech sounds generate more recency than letters representing those speech sounds. Therefore movement of stimulus features need not account for the extensive recency advantage in remembering lipread lists. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.