Primacy, Rated Importance, and the Recall of Medical Statements.

Three investigations show that laymen presented with medical information recall best (a) what they are told first and (b) what they consider most important. The findings from volunteer subjects recalling fictitious information are confirmed with patients recalling real information. In the real-life situation, it was possible to manipulate recall of certain kinds of information by using the primacy and importance effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]