First things first: Similar list length and output order effects for verbal and nonverbal stimuli.

Abstract

When participants are presented with a short list of unrelated words and they are instructed that they may recall in any order, they nevertheless show a very strong tendency to recall in forward serial order. Thus, if asked to recall in any order: "hat, mouse, tea, stairs", participants often respond "hat, mouse, tea, stairs" even though there was no forward order requirement of the task. In four experiments, we examined whether this tendency is language-specific, reflecting mechanisms involved with speech perception, speech production, and / or verbal short-term memory.Specifically, we examined whether we would observe similar findings when participants were asked to recall, in any order, lists of between 1 and 15 non-verbal stimuli, such as visuo-spatial locations (Experiment 1, Experiment 3, Experiment 4), or touched facial locations (Experiment 2).Contrary to a language-specific explanation, we found corresponding tendencies (albeit somewhat reduced) in the immediate free recall of these non-verbal stimuli. We conclude that the tendency to initiate recall of a short sequence of items with the first item is a general property of memory, which may be augmented by verbal coding. wordsKeywords: free recall; visuo-spatial memory; tactile memory; verbal short-term memory; serial order 3 Recently, Ward, Tan, and Grenfell-Essam (2010) reported the first systematic investigation into an experimental finding that was first reported by Corballis (1967) and then again by Neath and Crowder (1996). When participants are asked to recall a short list of words in any order, such as:"hat, mouse, tea, stairs", they often respond in forward serial order (that is, they recall "hat, mouse, tea, stairs"), even though there was no forward order requirement of the task. Ward et al. argued that this finding was important for two reasons. First, the finding encouraged greater theoretical integration between the otherwise divergent immediate free recall (IFR) and immediate serial recall (ISR) literatures. Second, the finding is potentially difficult to explain by many theories of IFR that emphasize the importance of explaining recency effects (that is, the high accessibility of items presented toward the end of a list). Third, the finding adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests that forward-ordered recall may be a defining principle of episodic memory (e.g., Hurlstone, Baddeley, & Hitch, 2014).One specific aim of the current work is to address the question of whether this forwardordered tendency observed in the IFR of verbal stimuli reflects the operation of language-specific mechanisms (such as a speech input/output buffer or a verbal short-term memory system) or whether the tendency is a more general property of memory that can also be observed across different (non-verbal) materials. A second more general aim of the current work is to examine the functional similarities and differences between IFR of stimuli from verbal and non-verbal domains.In the introduction that follows, we outline more fully the phenomenon ...

The Mid-Career Award Working out how working memory works: evidence from typical and atypical development

“…Although the latter appears a somewhat counter-intuitive suggestion, if one assumes that rehearsal equates to recall (see above) one might argue that any material that can be recalled can therefore be rehearsed. Under this account visuo-spatial information would be 'rehearsed' simply by being covertly, rather than overtly, recalled (Cortis, Dent, Kennett, & Ward, 2015). Similarly, the claim that rehearsal can be distinguished from short-term storage to a greater degree than the phonological loop account proposes is consistent with work that suggests that storage capacity is most accurately measured by examining individuals' ability to maintain information in tasks that preclude rehearsal Hall, Jarrold, Towse, & Zarandi, 2015).…”

Tactile order memory: evidence for sequence learning phenomena found with other stimulus types

“…Consistent with both verbal (e.g. Spurgeon et al, 2014) and visuo-spatial stimuli (Cortis et al, 2015, Experiment 1), shorter sequences exhibited pronounced primacy resulting from a tendency to initiate recall with the early sequence items.…”

“…Thus, the findings of Cortis et al (2015) demonstrate that tactile memory operates in a fashion analogous to that for other stimulus types, both in terms of IFR serial position functions and the strategic shift in recall following increases to sequence length.…”

“…The serial position function mirrored those of IFR for both verbal (e.g. Spurgeon et al, 2014) and visuo-spatial stimuli (Cortis et al, in 2015, Experiment 1), exhibiting both primacy and recency advantages. Moreover, detailed analysis of the tactile IFR functions demonstrated subtle changes in the serial position curves as a function of sequence length.…”

“…More recently, the immediate free recall (IFR) paradigm has been applied to tactile stimuli (Cortis, Dent, Kennett, & Ward, 2015). Here, participants (with eyes closed) received sequences comprising discrete touches to the face and varying in length between 1 and 15 items.…”