primary effect

British  

noun

1. psychol the process whereby the first few items on a list are learnt more rapidly than the middle items

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Example Sentences

The test required courts to consider whether the government practice being challenged had a secular purpose, whether its primary effect was to advance or inhibit religion, and whether it encouraged excessive government entanglement with religion.

From New York Times • Jun. 19, 2024

Shingles primarily affects older persons who have had such childhood diseases as chicken pox and the primary effect is painful rashes that last for weeks, though nerve pain can persist even longer than that.

From Washington Times • Mar. 2, 2023

The primary effect will be to allow some Venezuelan oil to flow back to the United States, "which will help the U.S. refining system," Wirth said.

From Reuters • Dec. 1, 2022

The primary effect of the radiation was on a layer high in Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

Of course, the primary effect of the appreciation of our paper towards par with the standard of coin was the enhancement of the purchasing power of the circulating medium.

From Recollections of Forty Years in the House, Senate and Cabinet An Autobiography. by Sherman, John