MAGIC AND THE VON RESTORFF EFFECT: RECALL OF ISOLATES AND SURROUNDING ITEMS

Abstract

This study examined the attention theory of the von Restorff effect, which hypothesizes that the increased recall for an isolateed item is caused by increased attention. Following Kahneman’s (1973) capacity model of attention which claims that attention is a limited resource, we hypothesize that if the attention theory is true, it should also result in a depressed recall of the surrounding items. This was investigated by manipulating the surprisingness of the isolated items, in order to attract varying levels of attention to the isolated item. We attempted a method that is new within the psychology literature – using magic tricks to manipulate and create multiple levels of surprisingness. The results did not support the attention theory. An increase in the level of surprisingness of the isolated item resulted in, at least to a certain degree, a better recall of the isolated item, but there was no significant effect on recall of the surrounding items. However, our finding aligns with the other theories of the von Restorff effect, and the theoretical implications of are discussed.