Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition
by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler
194 von Restorff Effect
Uncommon things are easier to recall than common things.
The von Restorff effect, proposed by psychiatrist Hedwig von Restorff, states that there is increased likelihood of remembering unique or distinctive events or objects compared to those that are common. The von Restorff effect is primarily the result of the increased attention given to the distinctive items in a set, where a set may be a list of words, a number of objects, a sequence of events, or the names and faces of people. It occurs when there is a difference in context (i.e., something is different from things around it) or a difference in experience (i.e., something is different from experiences in memory).1
Differences in context occur when something is ...
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