Bill was interviewing people for a job opening in his department. The _____ effect suggests that the first and last person interviewed for a job will be better remembered by the interviewer than all the people in the middle.

• A. interference
• B. serial position
• C. bystander
• D. middle-man

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the concept of the 'serial position effect', which is a cognitive psychology term that refers to the tendency of a person to recall the first and last items in a series best, and the middle items worst.
2. Recognize that the serial position effect is divided into two components: the primacy effect and the recency effect. The primacy effect refers to better recall of items at the beginning of a list, while the recency effect refers to better recall of items at the end of a list.
3. Apply this concept to the context of job interviews. The first person interviewed (primacy effect) and the last person interviewed (recency effect) are more likely to be remembered by the interviewer.
4. Consider why this effect occurs: the first items are remembered because they have been rehearsed more often, and the last items are still in short-term memory.
5. Conclude that the correct term to fill in the blank is 'serial position', as it explains the phenomenon where the first and last interviewees are better remembered than those in the middle.