Characteristics of Spatial Memory Span: Is there an Analogy to the Word Length Effect, Based on Movement Time?

1994 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary M. Smyth ◽  
Keith A. Scholey
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Memory ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Movement Time ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Spatial Span ◽  
Immediate Recall ◽  
Word Length Effect

In studies of verbal short-term memory it has been shown that the length of words to be remembered affects the size of memory span. This word-length effect is attributed to relationships between the rate of rehearsal of verbal material and the time it takes to speak the words being rehearsed. For spatial memory span there may also be an internal rehearsal system linked to overt responding, and if there is a strong analogy to be drawn between the verbal and spatial domains then movement time between spatial targets should predict the number of spatial locations that can be recalled. In the experiments reported here the time taken to move between spatial targets is varied by altering the size of targets and the distance between them. No difference between span performance on a nine-block spatial span task were found, either on immediate recall or on recall after an interval. When recall is of items from an array of 27, grouped in nine sets of three, with only one location in any set being presented on any trial, there is an effect of display size. This effect is consonant with the argument that movement time is related to spatial rehearsal, but other explanations are also possible. However, if recall in this task is scored over the nine sets rather than over the 27 items, then there is no difference between the displays. The results indicate that performance on the normal nine-block spatial-span task cannot be predicted by movement time.

The Word-length Effect and Disyllabic Words

2000 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lovatt ◽  
S.E. Avons ◽  
Jackie Masterson
Keyword(s):  
Short Duration ◽  
Serial Recall ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Semantic Associations ◽  
Disyllabic Words

Three experiments compared immediate serial recall of disyllabic words that differed on spoken duration. Two sets of long- and short-duration words were selected, in each case maximizing duration differences but matching for frequency, familiarity, phonological similarity, and number of phonemes, and controlling for semantic associations. Serial recall measures were obtained using auditory and visual presentation and spoken and picture-pointing recall. In Experiments 1a and 1b, using the first set of items, long words were better recalled than short words. In Experiments 2a and 2b, using the second set of items, no difference was found between long and short disyllabic words. Experiment 3 confirmed the large advantage for short-duration words in the word set originally selected by Baddeley, Thomson, and Buchanan (1975). These findings suggest that there is no reliable advantage for short-duration disyllables in span tasks, and that previous accounts of a word-length effect in disyllables are based on accidental differences between list items. The failure to find an effect of word duration casts doubt on theories that propose that the capacity of memory span is determined by the duration of list items or the decay rate of phonological information in short-term memory.

Articulatory and Phonological Determinants of Word Length Effects in Span Tasks

1992 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Caplan ◽  
Elizabeth Rochon ◽  
Gloria S. Waters
Keyword(s):  
Word Length ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Phonological Structure ◽  
Visual Span ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Span Tasks ◽  
Length Effects

Several previous studies have shown that memory span is greater for short words than for long words. This effect is claimed to occur even when the short and long words are matched for the number of syllables and phonemes and so to provide evidence for subvocal articulation as being one mechanism that underlies memory span (Baddeley, Thomson, & Buchanan, 1975). The three experiments reported in this paper further investigate the articulatory determinants of word length effects on span tasks. Experiment 1 replicated Baddeley et al.'s finding of an effect of word length on auditory and visual span when the stimuli consist of words that differ in terms of the number of syllables. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the effects of word length are eliminated when the words in the span task are matched for the number of syllables and phonemes but differ with respect to the duration and/or complexity of their articulatory gestures. These results indicate that it is the phonological structure of a word and not features of its actual articulation that determines the magnitude of the word length effect in span tasks.

Phonological Similarity, Pronunciation Rate, and Memory Span

1990 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Schweickert ◽  
Lawrence Guentert ◽  
Lora Hersberger
Keyword(s):  
Word Length ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Phonological Similarity ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Rate Difference ◽  
Immediate Recall ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Phonological Similarity Effect ◽  
Similarity Effect ◽  
Special Case

Memory span is smaller for (a) items taking longer to pronounce and (b) phonologically more similar items. We investigated the relation between the two effects. Chase (1977) found that phonologically similar items were pronounced more slowly than dissimilar ones in a pronunciation task. A pronunciation rate difference in immediate recall could explain the phonological similarity effect as a special case of the word-length effect. Instead, the study found that pronunciation rates were equal. In the equation s = rt, span equals pronunciation rate times trace duration, word-length affects r while phonological similarity affects t. The two effects are shown to be complementary.

Reconfirmation of the Short-Term Storage Concept

1994 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelson Cowan ◽  
Noelle L. Wood ◽  
Dawn N. Borne
Keyword(s):  
Word Length ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Storage Mechanism ◽  
Immediate Recall ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Short Term Storage ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Term Storage

Recent research questions the existence of a short-term storage mechanism capable of holding limited information temporarily Specifically, serial-recall results with a through-list distractor (TLD) procedure, in which a distracting task is interposed between list items as well as between the list and recall period, generally resemble the results of immediate-recall procedures The present study, however, reconfirms the utility of short-term storage by demonstrating an important difference between immediate and TLD recall A word-length effect, or advantage for lists of shorter words (which minimize short-term forgetting during spoken recall), did not occur with a TLD procedure

The Effect of Word Length on Immediate Serial Recall Depends on Phonological Complexity, Not Articulatory Duration

1998 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabet Service
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Immediate Serial Recall ◽  
Immediate Recall ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Phonological Complexity ◽  
Better Than

Immediate recall for sequences of short words is better than for sequences of long words. This word-length effect has been thought to depend on the spoken duration of the words (Baddeley, Thomson, & Buchanan, 1975) or their phonological complexity (Caplan, Rochon, & Waters, 1992). In Finnish both vowel and consonant quantity distinguish between words. Long phonemes behave like phoneme repetitions. In Experiment 1, subjects were presented with auditory lists of three kinds of pseudowords based on Finnish phonotactics: short CVCV-structures (e.g. / tepa/), long two-syllable items with long phonemes (e.g. / te: p: a/), and long three-syllable items with CVCVCV structures (e.g. / tepalo/). Although both kinds of long stimuli (of identical spoken length) took longer to read, only three-syllable items were more difficult to remember than the short stimuli. Experiment 2 contrasted the effect of number of syllables with number of different phonemes. The long two-syllable items were replaced by two-syllable items of equal spoken duration but containing six different phonemes (e.g. / tiempa/). These two-syllable items were as difficult to recall as were the three-syllable items. Experiment 3 controlled for the possibility that long stimuli might be rehearsed in a shorter form. It is concluded that aspects of phonological complexity are critical for word-length effects. Implications of this finding for working memory theory are discussed, and future work based on multi-layered phonological representations is proposed.

Reversing the Word-Length Effect: A Comment on Caplan, Rochon, and Waters

1994 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 1047-1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Baddeley ◽  
Jackie Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Serial Recall ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Short Word ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Immediate Serial Recall ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Significant Reversal

Caplan, Rochon, and Waters (1992) report a failure to observe the poorer immediate serial recall for words of longer spoken duration obtained by Baddeley, Thomson, and Buchanan (1975) and subsequently replicated by others. Indeed, they find a significant reversal of this effect. We present evidence that the material used by Caplan et al. differs only minimally in spoken duration under speeded articulation conditions (Exp. 1 = 1.9%, Exp 2 = 2.31%), in contrast to a clear difference in the case of the original Baddeley et al. material (24.5%). It is further suggested that the reversal of the word-length effect may result from differences in acoustic similarity between the “long” and “short” word sets used by Caplan et al. We conclude that the evidence continues to indicate that longer spoken duration is associated with reduced memory span.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document