Serial reconstruction of order and serial recall in verbal short-term memory

A series of experiments was carried out on verbal short-term memory for lists of words. In the first experiment, participants were tested via immediate serial recall and word frequency and list set size were manipulated. With closed lists the same set of items was repeatedly sampled, with open lists no item was presented more than once. In serial recall, effects of word frequency and set size were found. When a serial reconstruction of order task was used, in a second experiment, robust effects of word frequency emerged but set size failed to show an effect. The effect of word frequency in order reconstruction were further examined in two final experiments. The data from these experiments revealed that the effects of word frequency are robust and are apparently not exclusively indicative of output processes. A multiple mechanisms account is adopted in which word frequency can influence both retrieval and pre-retrieval processes

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

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