No. 30 Serial Position Effect

First & last stick. The middle gets lost.

People remember the first & last things in a list best. The middle blurs together.

So put what matters most at the start or the end.

Don’t bury the good stuff in the middle.

In 1885, Hermann Ebbinghaus memorized lists of nonsense syllables & noticed the ends stuck better than the middle.

In 1962, Bennet Murdock tested lots of people & charted the classic U-shaped curve. First & last win.

• Hermann Ebbinghaus, Über das Gedächtnis (1885)
• Bennet B. Murdock Jr., Journal of Experimental Psychology (1962)

Save this for the next time someone wants an 11-item nav.