Working memory and short-term memory storage: what does backward recall tell us?

Abstract

The research is motivated by two concerns: Is backward recall in any fundamental sense different to forward recall, and is it possible to distinguish between simple, complex and delayed recall tasks apart from absolute levels of recall. To this end participants studied lists of words for backward serial recall in which word length (Experiment 1) and phonological similarity (Experiment 2) were manipulated. The results indicated that phonological similarity effects were present in backward recall in simple, complex and delayed tasks. In contrast, word length effect had no influence in any of the three tasks. This finding suggests that models of forward recall may not be applicable to backward recall.