The distinctiveness of the word-length effect

C Hulme; I Neath; G Stuart; L Shostak; A M Surprenant; G D A Brown

doi:10.1037/0278-7393.32.3.586

The distinctiveness of the word-length effect

C Hulme, I Neath, G Stuart, L Shostak, A M Surprenant, G D A Brown

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The authors report 2 experiments that compare the serial recall of pure lists of long words, pure lists of short words, and lists of long or short words containing just a single isolated word of a different length. In both experiments for pure lists, there was a substantial recall advantage for short words; the isolated words were recalled better than other words in the same list, and there was a reverse word-length effect: Isolated long words were recalled better than isolated short words. These results contradict models that seek to explain the word-length effect in terms of list-based accounts of rehearsal speed or in terms of item-based effects (such as difficulty of assembling items).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	586-594
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
Volume	32
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.32.3.586
Publication status	Published - May 2006

Keywords

serial recall
word-length effect
distinctiveness
CONFIDENCE-INTERVALS
IMMEDIATE MEMORY
SHORT-TERM
GENERATION
RECALL
ORDER
MODEL
SPAN
TIME

Access to Document

10.1037/0278-7393.32.3.586

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.32.3.586

Cite this

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title = "The distinctiveness of the word-length effect",

abstract = "The authors report 2 experiments that compare the serial recall of pure lists of long words, pure lists of short words, and lists of long or short words containing just a single isolated word of a different length. In both experiments for pure lists, there was a substantial recall advantage for short words; the isolated words were recalled better than other words in the same list, and there was a reverse word-length effect: Isolated long words were recalled better than isolated short words. These results contradict models that seek to explain the word-length effect in terms of list-based accounts of rehearsal speed or in terms of item-based effects (such as difficulty of assembling items).",

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T1 - The distinctiveness of the word-length effect

AU - Hulme, C

AU - Neath, I

AU - Stuart, G

AU - Shostak, L

AU - Surprenant, A M

AU - Brown, G D A

PY - 2006/5

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N2 - The authors report 2 experiments that compare the serial recall of pure lists of long words, pure lists of short words, and lists of long or short words containing just a single isolated word of a different length. In both experiments for pure lists, there was a substantial recall advantage for short words; the isolated words were recalled better than other words in the same list, and there was a reverse word-length effect: Isolated long words were recalled better than isolated short words. These results contradict models that seek to explain the word-length effect in terms of list-based accounts of rehearsal speed or in terms of item-based effects (such as difficulty of assembling items).

AB - The authors report 2 experiments that compare the serial recall of pure lists of long words, pure lists of short words, and lists of long or short words containing just a single isolated word of a different length. In both experiments for pure lists, there was a substantial recall advantage for short words; the isolated words were recalled better than other words in the same list, and there was a reverse word-length effect: Isolated long words were recalled better than isolated short words. These results contradict models that seek to explain the word-length effect in terms of list-based accounts of rehearsal speed or in terms of item-based effects (such as difficulty of assembling items).

KW - serial recall

KW - word-length effect

KW - distinctiveness

KW - CONFIDENCE-INTERVALS

KW - IMMEDIATE MEMORY

KW - SHORT-TERM

KW - GENERATION

KW - RECALL

KW - ORDER

KW - MODEL

KW - SPAN

KW - TIME

U2 - 10.1037/0278-7393.32.3.586

DO - 10.1037/0278-7393.32.3.586

M3 - Article

VL - 32

SP - 586

EP - 594

JO - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

SN - 0278-7393

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ER -