When Does Length Cause the Word Length Effect?

Autor/inn/en	Jalbert, Annie; Neath, Ian; Bireta, Tamra J.; Surprenant, Aimee M.
Titel	When Does Length Cause the Word Length Effect?
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37 (2011) 2, S.338-353 (16 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0278-7393
DOI	10.1037/a0021804
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; College Students; Language Processing; Learning Processes; Syllables; Short Term Memory; Word Lists; Time Factors (Learning); Oral Language; Phonology; Experiments; Recall (Psychology); Stimuli; Cues; Reaction Time; Learning Theories; Psychometrics; Cognitive Measurement; Cognitive Tests; Written Language; Psycholinguistics; Canada + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Collegestudent; Sprachverarbeitung; Learning process; Lernprozess; Silbe; Kurzzeitgedächtnis; Wortliste; Oral interpretation; Mündlicher Sprachgebrauch; Fonologie; Erprobung; Abberufung; Anreizsystem; Stichwort; Reaktionsvermögen; Learning theory; Lerntheorie; Psychometry; Psychometrie; Kognitiver Fähigkeitstest; Geschriebene Sprache; Psycholinguistik; Kanada
Abstract	The word length effect, the finding that lists of short words are better recalled than lists of long words, has been termed one of the benchmark findings that any theory of immediate memory must account for. Indeed, the effect led directly to the development of working memory and the phonological loop, and it is viewed as the best remaining evidence for time-based decay. However, previous studies investigating this effect have confounded length with orthographic neighborhood size. In the present study, Experiments 1A and 1B revealed typical effects of length when short and long words were equated on all relevant dimensions previously identified in the literature except for neighborhood size. In Experiment 2, consonan-vowel-consonant (CVC) words with a large orthographic neighborhood were better recalled than were CVC words with a small orthographic neighborhood. In Experiments 3 and 4, using two different sets of stimuli, we showed that when short (1-syllable) and long (3-syllable) items were equated for neighborhood size, the word length effect disappeared. Experiment 5 replicated this with spoken recall. We suggest that the word length effect may be better explained by the differences in linguistic and lexical properties of short and long words rather than by length per se. These results add to the growing literature showing problems for theories of memory that include decay offset by rehearsal as a central feature. (Contains 2 tables, 3 footnotes and 2 figures.) (As Provided).
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Update	2017/4/10