What refers to the tendency of the first item being remembered best in a list?

The primacy effect refers to the phenomenon where individuals are more likely to remember the first items in a list better than those in the middle. This occurs because the initial items receive more attention and are often rehearsed more frequently, leading to stronger memory encoding. In many studies of memory, especially those related to the serial position effect, the primacy effect is observed as one of the key patterns in recall tasks. Thus, when presented with a list of items, the items that come first tend to be retained better in long-term memory compared to later items.

The concept of the serial position effect encompasses both the primacy effect and the recency effect, which explains why items at both the beginning and the end of a list are more easily recalled than those in the middle. The recency effect, while also a remembered phenomenon, specifically refers to the tendency to recall the most recently presented items, rather than focusing exclusively on those presented first. Relearning relates to the process of acquiring knowledge again after it has been forgotten and is not directly affiliated with the order of items in a list.