Adults' word recall and word repetition

Abstract

This experiment investigated age group differences in working memory by examining the effects of word length on adults' recall span and repetition rate. College students and adults, 60 to 94 years of age, recalled lists of one-, two-, or three-syllable words and repeated aloud pairs of one-, two-, or three-syllable words. Word recall spans and word repetition rates were computed. Main effects of age group and word length were obtained on both measures, although the interactions were not significant. A second analysis examined the relationship between individuals' recall span and their repetition rate. Across all age groups combined, recall span was a linear function of repetition rate and accounted for 25 percent of the variance on the recall task. A reanalysis of the word repetitions revealed that older adults' word durations and inter-word pauses are longer than young adults.