The emergence of the word length effect in young children: The effects of overt and covert rehearsal
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of training 5‐year‐olds to carry out both overt and covert rehearsal in a serial order recall task. As the superior recall for short words versus long words in adults is attributed to the use of verbal rehearsal, it was hypothesized that young children who do not normally show these effects would do so when trained to rehearse. Both overt and covert rehearsal were found to be equally effective in producing a word length effect, and these results were taken as supportive of the view that such effects are due to verbal rehearsal. It was also concluded that when instructed to do so 5‐year‐olds can make effective use of inner speech in serial order recall tasks.
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With sufficient practice and instruction, rehearsal can be induced in non-rehearsing children, leading to increases in memory span.
“With sufficient practice and instruction, rehearsal can be induced in non-rehearsing children, leading to increases in memory span (Broadley & MacDonald, 1993; Johnston et al., 1987).”
From Working memory training involves learning new skills (2019) · cites this paper as Johnston et al., 1987
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- Authors
- Johnston, R. S., Johnson, C., & Gray, C.
- Affiliations
- University of St Andrews (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Johnston, Rhona S.
- Venue
- British Journal of Developmental Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1987-09
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 243-248
- ISSN
- 0261-510X (ISSN-L)
- 2044-835X
- OpenAlex
- W2011410682
- Cited by
- 42
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Journal of Developmental Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- word length effect, verbal rehearsal, overt rehearsal, covert rehearsal, serial recall, short-term memory, inner speech, children's memory, training effects, word length
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