Word-frequency and phonological-neighborhood effects on verbal short-term memory

S Roodenrys; C Hulme; A Lethbridge; M Hinton; L M Nimmo

doi:10.1037//0278-7393.28.6.1019

Word-frequency and phonological-neighborhood effects on verbal short-term memory

S Roodenrys, C Hulme, A Lethbridge, M Hinton, L M Nimmo

Psychology

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

Abstract

Immediate memory span and maximal articulation rate were assessed for word sets differing in frequency, word-neighborhood size, and average word-neighborhood frequency. Memory span was greater for high- than low-frequency words, greater for words from large than small phonological neighborhoods, and greater for words from high- than low-frequency phonological neighborhoods, Maximal articulation rate was also facilitated by word frequency, phonological-neighborhood size, and neighborhood frequency. In a final study all 3 lexical variables were found to influence the recall outcome for individual words. These effects of phonological-word neighborhood on memory performance suggest that phonological information in long-term memory plays an active role in recall in short-term-memory tasks, and they present a challenge to current theories of short-term memory.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1019-1034
Number of pages	16
Journal	Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
Volume	28
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037//0278-7393.28.6.1019
Publication status	Published - Nov 2002

Keywords

IMMEDIATE SERIAL-RECALL
SPAN
MODEL
LOOP
REDINTEGRATION
ACQUISITION
SIMILARITY
ACTIVATION
LENGTH
ORDER

Access to Document

10.1037//0278-7393.28.6.1019

Cite this

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title = "Word-frequency and phonological-neighborhood effects on verbal short-term memory",

abstract = "Immediate memory span and maximal articulation rate were assessed for word sets differing in frequency, word-neighborhood size, and average word-neighborhood frequency. Memory span was greater for high- than low-frequency words, greater for words from large than small phonological neighborhoods, and greater for words from high- than low-frequency phonological neighborhoods, Maximal articulation rate was also facilitated by word frequency, phonological-neighborhood size, and neighborhood frequency. In a final study all 3 lexical variables were found to influence the recall outcome for individual words. These effects of phonological-word neighborhood on memory performance suggest that phonological information in long-term memory plays an active role in recall in short-term-memory tasks, and they present a challenge to current theories of short-term memory.",

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T1 - Word-frequency and phonological-neighborhood effects on verbal short-term memory

AU - Roodenrys, S

AU - Hulme, C

AU - Lethbridge, A

AU - Hinton, M

AU - Nimmo, L M

PY - 2002/11

Y1 - 2002/11

N2 - Immediate memory span and maximal articulation rate were assessed for word sets differing in frequency, word-neighborhood size, and average word-neighborhood frequency. Memory span was greater for high- than low-frequency words, greater for words from large than small phonological neighborhoods, and greater for words from high- than low-frequency phonological neighborhoods, Maximal articulation rate was also facilitated by word frequency, phonological-neighborhood size, and neighborhood frequency. In a final study all 3 lexical variables were found to influence the recall outcome for individual words. These effects of phonological-word neighborhood on memory performance suggest that phonological information in long-term memory plays an active role in recall in short-term-memory tasks, and they present a challenge to current theories of short-term memory.

AB - Immediate memory span and maximal articulation rate were assessed for word sets differing in frequency, word-neighborhood size, and average word-neighborhood frequency. Memory span was greater for high- than low-frequency words, greater for words from large than small phonological neighborhoods, and greater for words from high- than low-frequency phonological neighborhoods, Maximal articulation rate was also facilitated by word frequency, phonological-neighborhood size, and neighborhood frequency. In a final study all 3 lexical variables were found to influence the recall outcome for individual words. These effects of phonological-word neighborhood on memory performance suggest that phonological information in long-term memory plays an active role in recall in short-term-memory tasks, and they present a challenge to current theories of short-term memory.

KW - IMMEDIATE SERIAL-RECALL

KW - SPAN

KW - MODEL

KW - LOOP

KW - REDINTEGRATION

KW - ACQUISITION

KW - SIMILARITY

KW - ACTIVATION

KW - LENGTH

KW - ORDER

U2 - 10.1037//0278-7393.28.6.1019

DO - 10.1037//0278-7393.28.6.1019

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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 -