Chunk Limits and Length Limits in Immediate Recall: A Reconciliation.
- 1 January 2005
- journal article
- Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
- Vol. 31 (6), 1235-1249
- https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.31.6.1235
Abstract
Whereas some research on immediate recall of verbal lists has suggested that it is limited by the number of chunks that can be recalled (e.g., N. Cowan, Z. Chen, & J. N. Rouder, 2004; E. Tulving & J. E. Patkau, 1962), other research has suggested that it is limited by the length of the material to be recalled (e.g., A. D. Baddeley, N. Thomson, & M. Buchanan, 1975). The authors investigated this question by teaching new paired associations between words to create 2-word chunks. The results suggest that both chunk capacity limits and length limits come into play. For the free recall of 12-word lists, 6 pre-learned pairs could be recalled about as well as 6 pre-exposed singletons, suggesting a chunk limit. However, for the serially ordered recall of 8-word lists, 4 pre-learned pairs could be recalled about as well as 8 pre-exposed singletons, suggesting a length limit. Other conditions yielded intermediate results suggesting that sometimes both limits may operate together.Keywords
This publication has 70 references indexed in Scilit:
- Constant Capacity in an Immediate Serial-Recall TaskPsychological Science, 2004
- High- and low-frequency words are recalled equally well in alternating lists: Evidence for associative effects in serial recallJournal of Memory and Language, 2003
- Output Decay in Immediate Serial Recall: Speech Time RevisitedJournal of Memory and Language, 2002
- The Effect of Word Length on Immediate Serial Recall Depends on Phonological Complexity, Not Articulatory DurationThe Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 1998
- There Are Two Word-Length Effects in Verbal Short-Term Memory: Opposed Effects of Duration and ComplexityPsychological Science, 1997
- Reconfirmation of the Short-Term Storage ConceptPsychological Science, 1994
- A common basis for recency effects in immediate and delayed recall.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1986
- Short-term memory capacity: Magic number or magic spell?Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1986
- Phonemic recoding of digital information.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1970
- Report of Nominations and Elections Committee.Academy of Management Proceedings, 1959