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
10.3758/s13421-025-01762-5
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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 covary with length. In this paper, we reexamine 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 |
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| Date Type: | Published Online |
| 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: | 23 Sep 2025 15:47 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179722 |
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