What Should
We Remember.
Memory isn't a recording — it's a reconstruction, shaped by what we paid attention to, what mattered most, and what came last. The biases below are why interviews wander, why endings count, and why one bright moment can carry an entire product.
The recall patterns you should know.
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Peak–End Rule
We remember the peak moment and the ending — most of the rest blurs.
Serial Position Effect
First and last items in a list outlive everything in the middle.
Picture Superiority
Images are remembered far better than the words next to them.
Rosy Retrospection
Past experiences sweeten in memory — interviews lie a little.
Spacing Effect
We learn better in spaced doses than in a single cram session.
Von Restorff Effect
The odd-one-out is the one users remember.
Context-Dependent Memory
We recall things best in the environment we learned them in.
Zeigarnik Effect
Incomplete tasks stay active in memory — finished ones fade quickly.
Misinformation Effect
Post-event information silently rewrites what we remember.
Mere Exposure Effect
Familiarity breeds preference — we like what we've encountered before.
Absent-Mindedness
We forget intentions when attention splits — lapses of attention, not storage failure.
Cryptomnesia
We mistake remembered information for original thought — source memory fails.
Duration Neglect
We neglect how long an experience lasted — peaks and endings dominate memory.
Fading Affect Bias
Negative emotion attached to memories fades faster than positive emotion.
False Memory
We can remember events that never happened — confidently and in detail.
Google Effect
We forget information we believe we can look up later — transactive memory with technology.
Implicit Associations
Automatic mental links between concepts steer perception before conscious thought.
Leveling and Sharpening
Memory retellings flatten some details and exaggerate others with each repetition.
Levels-of-Processing Effect
Deep, meaningful processing produces stronger memories than shallow visual exposure.
List Length Effect
Longer lists increase recalled items but decrease recall proportion — more total, less per item.
Memory Inhibition
Retrieving one memory suppresses competing related memories — retrieval-induced forgetting.
Misattribution of Memory
We remember information but misattribute its source — wrong screen, brand, or context.
Modality Effect
Memory performance differs by presentation mode — auditory versus visual material is recalled differently.
Next-in-Line Effect
People recall less of what came before them when they are next to perform or speak in sequence.
Part-List Cueing Effect
Presenting some items from a list as cues impairs recall of the remaining uncued items.
Serial Recall Effect
Recall of lists follows serial position patterns — order and position strongly affect what is remembered.
Source Confusion
People confuse where they learned information — source memory fails while content memory persists.
Suffix Effect
Appending irrelevant suffix items to a list impairs recall of the final list items.
Suggestibility
Memory and judgment are shaped by leading questions and suggestions — people incorporate suggested details into recall.
Testing Effect
Active retrieval strengthens memory more than passive review of the same material.
Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon
People strongly feel they know a word or fact but cannot retrieve it at that moment.
Three other ways minds bend.
Too Much
Information
Too Much
Information
There's too much to process. We filter — and the filtering is where bias creeps in.
Not Enough
Meaning
Not Enough
Meaning
Stories, patterns, and confident-sounding causes filling in the gaps.
Need to
Act Fast
Need to
Act Fast
Decisions made before the picture is complete — and how to design for them.