A Serial Position Effect in the Preparation of Abstracts

Two experiments are reported which were designed to increase understanding of the process of abstracting from complex verbal passages. The experiments test three hypotheses : that a primacy effect will be observed (H1), that this effect will be more pronounced in the case of subjects who have little interest in the passage to be summarized (H2), and that interest in the passage will be positively related to the amount of material abstracted (H3). The experiments are of the same design. This requires that two versions of a passage be used, and that the order in which the halves of the passage are presented be varied. Results of the two experiments are consistent with the validity of H1, but do not support H2 or H3. The need to compare abstraction behaviour with recall performance is emphasized.