Recentment

Recentment refers to a cognitive and sociocultural tendency to privilege recently encountered information, events, or trends when forming judgments, memories, or plans. It encompasses both individual cognition and collective discourse, including media analysis and organizational decision-making.

The term is a neologism formed from recent and ment, used in theoretical discussions of recency effects in information processing. It does not refer to a single recognized theory but to a family of related observations about time-biased cognition that can manifest in rapid revision of beliefs and attention to the latest developments.

Typical manifestations include overweighting latest news in political opinion, prioritizing recent data in forecasting, or refreshing strategic plans based on current events rather than long-run patterns. Researchers study its mechanisms through experiments that manipulate recency and memory tests, and by analyzing discourse in social media and news cycles.

Critiques emphasize that recentment overlaps with established concepts such as recency bias and availability heuristic, and that it risks pathologizing normal responsiveness to new information. Measurement challenges include separating recentment from general alertness, urgency, or information overload.

See also recency bias, availability heuristic, temporal cognition, media effects.