Event-related potential correlates of the word length effect in working memory

2006 ◽  
Vol 1112 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Murphy ◽  
Steven Roodenrys ◽  
Allison Fox
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Word Length Effect

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.

Is There a Temporal Basis of the Word Length Effect? A Response to Service (1998)

2000 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 647-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelson Cowan ◽  
Lara D. Nugent ◽  
Emily M. Elliott ◽  
Tara Geer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Memory Model ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Word Duration ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Duration Effect ◽  
Temporal Basis ◽  
Working Memory Model

Service (1998) carried out a study of the word length effect with Finnish pseudowords in which short and long pseudowords were identical except for the inclusion of certain phonemes differing only in pronunciation length, a manipulation that is impossible in English. She obtained an effect of phonemic complexity but little or no word duration effect per se — a discrepancy from the expectations generated by the well-known working memory model of Baddeley (1986). In the present study using English words, we controlled for phonemic complexity differences by using the same words for the short- and long-word sets, but with instructions inducing shorter or longer pronunciation of the words. We obtained substantial word duration effects. Concerns raised by Service are addressed, and we conclude that both duration and complexity are likely to contribute to the word length effect in serial recall.

scholarly journals Reexamination of Word Length Effect: Immediate Serial Recall of Foreign Words

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Junichiro Takeno ◽  
Ken Tamai ◽  
Shigenobu Takatsuka
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Phonological Loop ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Position Effects ◽  
Serial Position Effects ◽  
Immediate Serial Recall ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Effective Use

In this study we examined the word length effect—one characteristic of the phonological loop of working memory—in a foreign language. Serial position effects, such as the primacy effect and the recency effect, were observed in the recall of foreign words, similar to results in L1 studies. Recall of long (one-syllable) and short (three-syllable) words in pure (all long or all short) and mixed (long and short) lists was compared. In pure lists, there was a tendency for long words to be more poorly remembered than short words, which we considered to be because of the word length effect. In mixed lists, both long and short words were recalled equally as well as short words were recalled in pure lists. These results indicate that we should pay more attention to item distinctiveness, which elicits the attention of the central executive in working memory, as well as the word length effect in regards to rehearsal speed. Effective use of the phonological loop in listening comprehension is also discussed. 本研究は、ワーキングメモリモデルの音韻ループに見られる語長効果について再検討を試みたものである。外国語の単語記銘においても、母国語話者を対象とした研究と同じように初頭効果や新近性効果が確認された。単純リストと混合リストにおける長い語と短い語の再生率を比較したところ、単純リストでは、長い語は短い語よりも再生率が悪くなるという語長効果の傾向が見られるものの、混合リストにおいては、長い語も短い語も単純リストにおける短い語と同程度の再生率であった。これらの結果は、短期記憶容量は決められた項目数ではなく復唱速度が重要な要因であるという語長効果に基づく説明に加えて、ワーキングメモリの中央実行系に注意喚起を促す、項目の示差性などによる説明の必要性があることを示している。本研究では、聴解における音韻ループの効果的な活用についても論じている。

Item Identification Time and Rehearsal Rate as Predictors of Memory Span in Children

1989 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Hitch ◽  
M. S. Halliday ◽  
J. E. Littler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Articulatory Suppression ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Developmental Differences ◽  
Memory Model ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Identification Time ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Working Memory Model

According to the working memory model of Baddeley and Hitch (1974), the sensitivity of memory span to word length arises from the time taken to rehearse items in a speech-based “articulatory loop”. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the word-length effect may result from differences in the speed of perceptual processes of item identification. Changes in the speed of rehearsal and of item identification have also been claimed to contribute to the growth of memory span that is seen in development. In order to compare these two variables directly, groups of children aged 8 and 11 were assessed on memory span for words of one, two, and three syllables; span under articulatory suppression; rehearsal rate; and item identification time. Span was found to be a linear function of rehearsal rate across differences in both word length and age. The word-length effect was unrelated to item identification time and was diminished by articulatory suppression. These results show that the word-length effect reflects rehearsal and not item identification processes. However, the results also suggest that changes in item identification time contribute to developmental differences in span when articulation is suppressed. A distinction between item identification and rehearsal effects can be readily interpreted in terms of the working memory model if it is assumed that they indicate the efficiency of different subsystems involved in span.

scholarly journals EXPRESS: Improving reading rate prediction with word length information: Evidence from Dutch

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110171
Author(s):  
Marc Brysbaert ◽  
Longjiao Sui ◽  
Wouter Duyck ◽  
Nicolas Dirix
Keyword(s):  
Word Length ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Reading Rate ◽  
English Word ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Non Fiction ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Best Fitting ◽  
Dutch Language ◽  
Processing Effort

Previous research in English has suggested that reading rate predictions can be improved considerably by taking average word length into account. In the present study, we investigated whether the same regularity holds for Dutch. The Dutch language is very similar to English, but words are on average half a letter longer: 5.1 letters per word (in non-fiction) instead of 4.6. We collected reading rates of 62 participants reading 12 texts with varying word lengths, and examined which change in the English equation accounts for the Dutch findings. We observed that predictions were close to the best fitting curve as soon as the average English word length was replaced by the average Dutch word length. The equation predicts that Dutch texts with an average word length of 5.1 letters will be read at a rate of 238 word per minute (wpm). Texts with an average word length of 4.5 letter will be read at 270 wpm, and texts with an average word length of 6.0 letters will be read at a rate of 202 wpm. The findings are in line with the assumption that the longer words in Dutch do not slow down silent reading relative to English and that the word length effect observed in each language is due to word processing effort and not to low-level, visual factors.

scholarly journals Is spoken duration a sufficient explanation of the word length effect?

Memory ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 372-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Tehan ◽  
Georgina Anne Tolan
Keyword(s):  
Word Length ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Word Length Effect
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