Serial recall and the modality effect: Effects of word frequency.

Watkins, Olga C.; Watkins, Michael J.

doi:10.1037/0278-7393.3.6.712

Cited by 90 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The complexity of the relationship between list composition, item arrangement, and the frequency effect is heightened by the possibility that directional associativity exists throughout recall but is masked for late serial positions by the relative efficiencies or costs that arise from previous output. The findings reinforce the claim that the serial recall task is not as simple as it may seem on the surface (Watkins & Watkins, 1977), and teasing apart the processes that contribute to serial recall at different points in the list poses a considerable challenge.…”

supporting

confidence: 78%

“…While tasks involving pure lists of either only high-frequency (HF) or only low-frequency (LF) words have shown a clear advantage for HF words across many replications (Allen & Hulme, 2006;Hulme et al, 1997;Hulme et al, 2003;Morin et al, 2006;Poirier & Saint-Aubin, 1996;Stuart & Hulme, 2000;Roodenrys, Hulme, Lethbridge, Hinton, & Nimmo, 2002;Roodenrys & Quinlan, 2000;SaintAubin & LeBlanc, 2005;Saint-Aubin & Poirier, 2005;Watkins & Watkins, 1977), the results of experiments using mixed lists, where HF and LF words appear together on the same trial, indicate that under some conditions, LF items can be recalled as well as HF words (Hulme et al, 2003;Morin et al, 2006;Saint-Aubin & LeBlanc, 2005).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Conditional recall and the frequency effect in the serial recall task: an examination of item-to-item associativity

Miller

Roodenrys

2012

Mem Cogn

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The frequency effect in short-term serial recall is influenced by the composition of lists. In pure lists, a robust advantage in the recall of high-frequency (HF) words is observed, yet in alternating mixed lists, HF and lowfrequency (LF) words are recalled equally well. It has been argued that the preexisting associations between all list items determine a single, global level of supportive activation that assists item recall. Preexisting associations between items are assumed to be a function of language cooccurrence; HF-HF associations are high, LF-LF associations are low, and mixed associations are intermediate in activation strength. This account, however, is based on results when alternating lists with equal numbers of HF and LF words were used. It is possible that directional association between adjacent list items is responsible for the recall patterns reported. In the present experiment, the recall of three forms of mixed lists-those with equal numbers of HF and LF items and pure lists-was examined to test the extent to which item-to-item associations are present in serial recall. Furthermore, conditional probabilities were used to examine more closely the evidence for a contribution, since correct-in-position scoring may mask recall that is dependent on the recall of prior items. The results suggest that an item-to-item effect is clearly present for early but not late list items, and they implicate an additional factor, perhaps the availability of resources at output, in the recall of late list items.Keywords Short term memory . Language production . RecallIn the context of immediate serial recall, the frequency effect is complex and difficult to explain in straightforward terms Early explanations of the frequency effect in serial recall, motivated by the results from experiments using pure lists, focused on item-specific differences between HF and LF words, consistent with the prevailing explanation of verbal short-term memory (STM) phenomena. For example, the phonological loop (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974) was characterized as a serially ordered, speech-based system that was responsible for performance on memory span and serial recall tasks (Baddeley, 1986). It comprised a phonological shortterm store (STS) that retained the short-term traces of items and a subvocal rehearsal mechanism. Traces in the STS were subject to passive decay and consequent degradation unless refreshed by rehearsal in the loop. Wright (1979) demonstrated articulation rate differences between HF and LF words; HF items of the same length are articulated faster than LF words. Accordingly, the frequency effect will manifest from rehearsal rate differences between HF and LF words, since greater rehearsal efficiency leads to superior retention of the shortterm traces on which recall is reliant.

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supporting

confidence: 78%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Conditional recall and the frequency effect in the serial recall task: an examination of item-to-item associativity

Miller

Roodenrys

2012

Mem Cogn

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“…In line with this idea, Wagner (1974) observed that unschooled people from rural Yucatan, Mexico, did not show the primacy effect in ordered memory of pictures (i.e., better recall of initial list compared to middle list items, usually observed in literate adults; Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968). Although its interpretation has been highly debated (e.g., Brown et al, 2000;Nairne, Neath, Serra, & Byun, 1997;Oberauer, 2003), the primacy effect in serial position curves is sometimes assumed to reflect greater or more elaborative rehearsal of earlier list items, facilitating transfer of items to LTM and subsequent retrieval (e.g., Flavell, 1970;Hagen, 1971;Tulving & Craik, 2000;Watkins & Watkins, 1977). Hence, Wagner concluded that rural, unschooled people are not using verbal rehearsal strategies, which may explain the lack of increase in developmental performance (with participants aged from 7 to 35 years) he also observed in that population.…”

Section: Verbal Recoding and Rehearsal Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does learning to read shape verbal working memory?

Demoulin

Kolinsky

2015

Psychon Bull Rev

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Many experimental studies have investigated the relationship between the acquisition of reading and working memory in a unidirectional way, attempting to determine to what extent individual differences in working memory can predict reading achievement. In contrast, very little attention has been dedicated to the converse possibility that learning to read shapes the development of verbal memory processes. In this paper, we present available evidence that advocates a more prominent role for reading acquisition on verbal working memory and then discuss the potential mechanisms of such literacy effects. First, the early decoding activities might bolster the development of subvocal rehearsal, which, in turn, would enhance serial order performance in immediate memory tasks. In addition, learning to read and write in an alphabetical system allows the emergence of phonemic awareness and finely tuned phonological representations, as well as of orthographic representations. This could improve the quality, strength, and precision of lexical representations, and hence offer better support for the temporary encoding of memory items and/or for their retrieval.

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“…This lexical/semantic contribution explains why normal immediate serial recall (ISR) is better for (1) words vs. nonwords (e.g., Brener, 1940;Hulme, Maughan, & Brown, 1991; referred to as the effect of "lexicality" below); (2) high compared with low frequency words (Gregg, Freedman, & Smith, 1989;Hulme et al, 1997;Roodenrys & Quinlan, 2000;Watkins & Watkins, 1977); (3) imageable/concrete words vs. abstract words (Bourassa & Besner, 1994;Walker & Hulme, 1999); and (4) semantically grouped vs. ungrouped words (Poirier & Saint-Aubin, 1995;Saint-Aubin & Poirier, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of semantic impairment on verbal short-term memory in stroke aphasia and semantic dementia: A comparative study

Jefferies

Hoffman

Jones

et al. 2008

Journal of Memory and Language

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This study presents the first direct comparison of immediate serial recall in semantic dementia (SD) and transcortical sensory aphasia (TSA). Previous studies of the effect of semantic impairment on verbal short-term memory (STM) have led to important theoretical advances. However, different conclusions have been drawn from these two groups. This research aimed to explain these inconsistencies. We observed (a) qualitative differences between SD and TSA in the nature of the verbal STM impairment and (b) considerable variation within the TSA group. The SD and TSA patients all had poor semantic processing and good phonology. Reflecting this, both groups remained sensitive to phonological similarity and showed a reduced effect of lexicality in immediate serial recall. The SD patients showed normal serial position effects; in contrast, the TSA patients had poor recall of the initial list items and exhibited large recency effects on longer lists. The error patterns of the two groups differed: the SD patients made numerous phoneme migration errors whereas the TSA group were more likely to produce entire words in the wrong order, often initiating recall with terminal list items. The SD cases also showed somewhat larger effects of word frequency and imageability. We propose that these contrasting performance patterns are explicable in terms of the nature of the underlying semantic impairment. SD is associated with anterior lobe atrophy and produces degradation of semantic knowledge -this is more striking for less frequent/imageable items, accentuating the effects of these lexical/semantic variables in STM. SD patients frequently recombine the phonemes of different list items due to the reduced semantic constraint upon phonology (semantic binding: Patterson et al., 1994). In contrast, the semantic impairment in TSA follows frontal or temporoparietal lesions and is associated with poor executive control of semantic processing (deregulated semantic cognition: Jefferies and Lambon , explaining why these patients are liable to recall entire words out of serial order.

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Serial recall and the modality effect: Effects of word frequency.

Cited by 90 publications

References 21 publications

Conditional recall and the frequency effect in the serial recall task: an examination of item-to-item associativity

Conditional recall and the frequency effect in the serial recall task: an examination of item-to-item associativity

Does learning to read shape verbal working memory?

The impact of semantic impairment on verbal short-term memory in stroke aphasia and semantic dementia: A comparative study

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