The role of verbal output time in the effects of word length on immediate memory

Abstract

In three experiments, we examined the role of delays within overt verbal responding in causing effects of word length on immediate recall. Although a phonological memory decay mechanism has been implicated by past research on word length effects, the exact basis of the effect remains unclear. The added difficulty of recalling longer words could arise both while subjects attempt to rehearse words silently and while they attempt to repeat words aloud. To examine the latter mechanism, the lengths of words in the first and second halves of lists to be recalled were varied independently, and both forward and backward recall orders were used. Recall of each word was found to be influenced by the total pronunciation time for all items to be recalled prior to that word, although there was an additional advantage for the last item output. The results clarify and generally support the theory of the articulatory loop, and the method permits an improved analysis of immediate memory into decay-based and other factors.