Glossary
Suffix Effect
What is the suffix effect?
The suffix effect is poorer immediate recall of the last items in a list when an extra item follows it. Participants are told to ignore this extra item, called the suffix.
An auditory memory example
In a typical task, someone hears a list of words or letters followed by an additional spoken item. Recall of the list's final items can be worse than when there is no suffix.
What affects it?
Research has examined timing, sound properties, grouping, and how the extra item is perceived. Early explanations proposed interference with a brief auditory representation.
Everyday applications
An unrelated comment after a spoken shopping list raises a similar question: does the extra speech affect what is remembered? That is an application to test, rather than a result established for every everyday list.
Why it matters
The ending of a list matters, but so can what comes immediately after it. The related modality effect compares memory across forms of presentation, including spoken and visual material.