Word-length effects in backward serial recall and the remember/know task

Baker, Rosemary and Tehan, Gerald (2008) Word-length effects in backward serial recall and the remember/know task. In: APA 2008: 43rd Australian Psychological Society Annual Conference: Psychology Leading Change, 23-26 Sep 2008, Hobart, Tasmania.

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Abstract

This study tested an item-order explanation of word-length effects in backward serial recall and recognition. It examined (a) whether the superior recall for short words expected for order-based tasks, and consistently found in forward serial recall, would apply also to backward serial recall; (b) whether the superior recall for long words expected for item-based tasks would apply to recognition; and (c) whether there was evidence for qualitative differences in processing between long and short words. Twenty adults performed backward serial recall and recognition tasks based on five-word lists of short and long words. They then completed a remember/know task requiring them to classify each recognized word as being consciously recollected (remember) or as just being familiar (know). The results showed that backward serial recall was better for short words than for long words, whereas recognition was better for long words than for short words. These opposing word-length effects were consistent with the item-order explanation. The remember/know analysis showed that long words were more likely to be classified as consciously remembered than as just familiar, whereas for short words there was no difference. This suggested that long words were encoded with more episodic information than short words during initial processing.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Commonwealth Reporting Category E) (Paper)
Refereed:	Yes
Item Status:	Live Archive
Additional Information:	Author's version deposited in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher: This is an electronic version of an article published in Voudouris, Nicholas and Mrowinski, Vicky (Eds.) (2008). Proceedings of the 43rd Australian Psychological Society Annual Conference. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Psychological Society.
Depositing User:	Assoc Prof Gerry Tehan
Faculty / Department / School:	Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology
Date Deposited:	02 Nov 2009 03:00
Last Modified:	02 Jul 2013 23:22
Uncontrolled Keywords:	backward recall; short term memory; item and order information
Fields of Research :	11 Medical and Health Sciences > 1109 Neurosciences > 110906 Sensory Systems 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1701 Psychology > 170112 Sensory Processes, Perception and Performance 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1702 Cognitive Sciences > 170201 Computer Perception, Memory and Attention
Socio-Economic Objective:	E Expanding Knowledge > 97 Expanding Knowledge > 970117 Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
URI:	http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/5590

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