Cognitive Task Report

Atkinson–Shiffrin Memory Battery

Completed 10 June 2026

Paired-associate encoding 75% · free-recall total 50%.

Across 36 trials over three paradigms, paired-associate encoding accuracy was 75%, mean serial-display partial-report accuracy was 67%, and free-recall total was 50% (primacy 75%, recency 75%). Primacy effect +25 pts and recency effect +25 pts reproduce the serial-position curve that Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) attribute to separate long-term and short-term stores. Accuracy declined as the study–test lag grew, consistent with reliance on the fragile short-term store before transfer to long-term storage.

What This Task Measures

This battery runs three classic memory paradigms that map onto the multi-store model of memory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968): a brief sensory register, a limited-capacity short-term store (STS), and a durable long-term store (LTS), linked by control processes such as rehearsal and transfer. Serial display probes the rapidly fading sensory register by varying how briefly a row of letters is shown (Sperling, 1960). Paired-associate learning indexes transfer from the short-term to the long-term store: as the lag between studying a pair and being tested on it grows, accuracy that depends only on the fragile STS falls, so a declining lag curve marks reliance on STS rather than consolidated LTS. Free recall produces the serial-position curve (Murdock, 1962): better recall for the first items (primacy, attributed to LTS through extra rehearsal) and for the last items (recency, attributed to STS still being available at test). Every figure below is a raw, within-subject percentage or slope. The primacy and recency effects are each measured against your own overall recall, so they are self-validating and need no external reference. Because no published table matches this exact list length, presentation rate, and item type, nothing here is converted to a percentile, T-score, or Higher/Average/Lower band. This is a research-grade illustration of the multi-store architecture — not a diagnostic test for any condition.

Performance Curves

Left: recall accuracy at each serial position (the classic U-shaped curve — higher primacy and recency relative to the middle positions). Right: paired-associate accuracy as a function of study–test lag (higher lag = longer interval before testing). Both axes show within-session accuracy; no normative reference lines are added.

Performance Indices

These figures describe this respondent's own within-session performance — reaction-time differences and accuracy across conditions. Where a published reference distribution exists, a percentile within that sample is shown alongside the raw value; otherwise only the raw effect is reported.

Trials completed	36
Paired-associate — encoding accuracy	75%
Paired-associate — lag-decay slope	-23.33 %/lag
Serial display — mean partial-report accuracy	67%
Serial display — exposure slope (exploratory)	+0.162 %/ms
Free recall — total recall	50%
Free recall — primacy region	75%
Free recall — recency region	75%
Free recall — primacy effect (vs. own total)	+25 pts
Free recall — recency effect (vs. own total)	+25 pts

Method & Limitations

Every figure here is a raw, within-subject percentage or slope scored from your own responses across the three paradigms. It is not norm-referenced: there is no percentile, no T-score, and no Higher/Average/Lower band, because no published reference table matches this list length, presentation rate, and item type. The primacy and recency effects are computed against your own total recall, so they are self-validating and interpretable on their own. The serial-display exposure slope is exploratory and model-derived. A single session is indicative, not diagnostic.

References

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