Word length and age influences on forward and backward immediate serial recall

Article

Baker, Rosemary, Tehan, Gerald and Tehan, Hannah. 2012. "Word length and age influences on forward and backward immediate serial recall." Memory and Cognition. 40 (1), pp. 40-51. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-011-0127-7
Article Title

Word length and age influences on forward and backward immediate serial recall

ERA Journal ID6515
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsBaker, Rosemary (Author), Tehan, Gerald (Author) and Tehan, Hannah (Author)
Journal TitleMemory and Cognition
Journal Citation40 (1), pp. 40-51
Number of Pages12
Year2012
Place of PublicationUnited States
ISSN0090-502X
1532-5946
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-011-0127-7
Web Address (URL)https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13421-011-0127-7
Abstract

The present research is aimed at understanding the
processes involved in short-term memory and how they
interact with age. Specifically, word length effects were
examined under forward serial recall, backward serial recall, and item recognition tasks, with performance being interpreted within an item-order theoretical framework. The interaction of age, word length, and direction of recall was examined in two experiments, the first of which confirmed that the word length was present with forward recall and absent with backward recall. In addition, age effects were stronger in backward recall than in forward recall. In the second experiment, an item-order trade-off methodology was utilized with backward recall. When order memory was required, there was no word length effect and strong age effects. When memory was tested via an item recognition test, there was a reverse word length effect and no age effect. While word length effects can be interpreted within the item-order framework, age effects cannot.

Keywordsshort-term memory; word length; forward recall; backward recall; aging
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020520406. Sensory processes, perception and performance
520499. Cognitive and computational psychology not elsewhere classified
520105. Psychological methodology, design and analysis
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Byline AffiliationsUniversity of Queensland
Department of Psychology
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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