recency

Sometimes re·cent·ness

[ree-suhn-see]

noun

1. the fact of being recent, of having occurred a relatively short time ago; closeness of a past event to a later past time or to the present.

   The general nervousness during that period was mostly due to the recency of the great stock market crash.

2. the fact of being more recent than something else and therefore more salient or memorable (often used attributively).

   The data might be showing recency effects—that is, choices presented later were more likely to be selected by participants.

Word History and Origins

Origin of recency¹

recen(t) ( def. ) + -cy ( def. )

Example Sentences

The average person also has recency and immediacy biases.

From Salon

Decades of research has repeatedly shown that the average American voter is not ideological, has a recency bias, is imagistic, and in total lacks a sophisticated understanding of politics.

From Salon

There may be a recency bias here, but Brook's blistering counter-attack in the second Test against New Zealand at Wellington gets the nod.

From BBC

“Walker certainly has the pedigree,” Roberts said, “but as far as recency, we haven’t seen it.”

From Los Angeles Times

Trump’s team messed up the key element of “primacy and recency,” Rossi explained.

From Salon