Word length vs. lexical factors: Re-examining what causes the word length effect in serial recognition

Guitard, Dominic, Neath, Ian and Surprenant, Aimée M. 2025. Word length vs. lexical factors: Re-examining what causes the word length effect in serial recognition. Memory & Cognition Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

The word length effect refers to the finding that memory on many short-term/working memory tasks is better for words with fewer syllables than words with more syllables. The standard account attributes this result to a combination of decay offset by rehearsal: More short words can be rehearsed because they take less time to articulate. However, most studies have confounded length with lexical and other long-term memory factors that co-vary with length. In this paper, we re-examine word length effects in serial recognition. Experiment 1 replicated previous findings of a word length effect when short and long words also differed on numerous other dimensions. Experiment 2 found that when the short and long words were more fully equated, including being equated for orthographic and phonological neighborhood size, the word length effect disappeared. Experiment 3 confirmed that memory was better for words with more orthographic and phonological neighbors than words with fewer neighbors, showing serial recognition is sensitive to at least some lexical/long-term memory factors. The results provide more evidence against the standard account of the word length effect and instead are consistent with a growing body of work which shows that lexical and other long-term memory factors affect performance in short-term/working memory tasks.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Psychology
Publisher:	Springer
ISSN:	0090-502X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	10 July 2025
Date of Acceptance:	3 July 2025
Last Modified:	16 Jul 2025 14:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179722

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