primerefekti

Primerefekti is the Estonian term for the primacy effect, a cognitive phenomenon in which information encountered early in a sequence exerts a disproportionate influence on memory and judgment compared with information presented later.

In memory research, the primacy effect refers to better recall for items at the beginning of a list than for middle items, sometimes alongside a recency effect for items at the end. It is believed to arise from longer rehearsal opportunities and reduced retroactive interference, facilitating stronger encoding into long-term memory. The effect occurs across sensory modalities and age groups, though its magnitude is affected by presentation rate, list length, interruptions, and delays before testing.

In social cognition and decision making, primacy effects can shape impression formation and judgments, with early information about a person or issue weighting more heavily than later information. Explanations include anchoring, schema activation, and assimilation of new information to an initial impression. The strength of the primacy effect in judgments can vary with attention, motivation to be accurate, and the perceived relevance of subsequent information.

Methodologically, researchers study primerefekti using serial-position curves in recall and recognition tasks, as well as rating and judgment tasks that manipulate information order. The concept is part of a broader family of serial-position effects, which also includes the recency effect.

See also: serial position effect, primacy effect, recency effect, halo effect.