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Usability & InteractionMember ingredient
Von Restorff Effect (isolation in memory)
In a memory list, an item that differs from its surrounding items can be recalled better than a comparable non-isolated item under some encoding and retrieval conditions.
Public evidence overview
One checked source, with its limits.
This preview is not the complete evidence base. Use it as a question to investigate in your own product, not as a prediction of what an individual will do.
Checked source previewAcademic paper
The Von Restorff Effect in Free Recall, Recognition, and Source Memory
Research-assisted source review
- What it supports
- Unexpected words showed a free-recall advantage, but no recognition advantage unless recall came first; source-memory results were mixed.
- Where it may not transfer
- Recently published laboratory word-list evidence awaits broader replication. Test order affected recognition, and findings do not establish attention, comprehension or product behaviour.
See how sources and limitations are checked in our editorial method.
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