Where did you park your car? Analysis of a naturalistic long-term recency effect

Abstract

In Exp 1, 41 members (aged 20-64 yrs) of Applied Psychology Unit (APU) attempted to recall where they had parked during the morning and afternoon of each of the previous 12 working days. A marked recency effect was observed. In Exp 2, 80 members (aged 28-71 yrs) of the APU subject panel were asked where they had parked after a delay of 2 hrs, 1 wk, or 1 mo. Recall was excellent and did not differ as a function of delay. Exp 3 invited 63 25-71 yr olds to attend on 2 occasions separated by a 2-wk interval. Ss were then required to recall their parking locations 4 wks after either their 1st or 2nd visit. Performance in both groups was inferior to that observed in Exp 2 and declined over time. Results support a temporal discrimination model that accounts for both elapsed time and interference from competing traces.