Which principle states that the most recently practiced material is best remembered?

• A. Recency
• B. Primacy
• C. Intensity
• D. Association

Answer: (A)

Recency is the principle that the most recently practiced material is best remembered because it remains in working memory and is most accessible right after practice. When you study a sequence, the items you just worked with are fresh in short-term memory, so you can recall them with less effort. Over time, this freshness fades, and the advantage of those last items decreases, which is why recall can shift if there’s a delay. The other options don’t capture this immediate accessibility of the most recently encountered material: primacy refers to better recall for the first items due to more rehearsal and transfer to long-term memory; intensity isn’t a standard recall principle here; association concerns linking items to cues or existing knowledge, which helps recall but doesn’t specifically explain why recently practiced material is easiest to remember.