TY - JOUR
T1 - Abolishing the Word-Length Effect
AU - Hulme, Charles
AU - Surprenant, Aimée M.
AU - Bireta, Tamra J.
AU - Stuart, George
AU - Neath, Ian
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2004/1
Y1 - 2004/1
N2 - The authors report 2 experiments that compare the recall of long and short words in pure and mixed lists. In pure lists, long words were much more poorly remembered than short words. In mixed lists, this word-length effect was abolished and both the long and short words were recalled as well as short words in pure lists. These findings contradict current models that seek to explain the word-length effect in terms of item-based effects such as difficulty in assembling items, or in terms of list-based accounts of rehearsal speed. An alternative explanation, drawing on ideas of item complexity and item distinctiveness, is proposed.
AB - The authors report 2 experiments that compare the recall of long and short words in pure and mixed lists. In pure lists, long words were much more poorly remembered than short words. In mixed lists, this word-length effect was abolished and both the long and short words were recalled as well as short words in pure lists. These findings contradict current models that seek to explain the word-length effect in terms of item-based effects such as difficulty in assembling items, or in terms of list-based accounts of rehearsal speed. An alternative explanation, drawing on ideas of item complexity and item distinctiveness, is proposed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0942268058&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/0278-7393.30.1.98
DO - 10.1037/0278-7393.30.1.98
M3 - Article
C2 - 14736299
AN - SCOPUS:0942268058
VL - 30
SP - 98
EP - 106
JO - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
SN - 0278-7393
IS - 1
ER -