Research shows that contextual diversity (CD; the number of different contexts in which a word appears within a corpus) constitutes a better predictor of reading performance than word frequency (WF), that it mediates the access to lexical representations, and that controlling for contextual CD abolishes the effect of WF in lexical decision tasks. Despite the theoretical relevance of these findings for the study of serial memory, it is not known how CD might affect serial recall performance. We report the first independent manipulation of CD and WF in a serial recall task. Experiment 1 revealed better performance for low CD and for high WF words independently. Both effects affected omissions and item errors, but contrary to past research, word frequency also affected order errors. These results were confirmed in two more experiments comparing pure and alternating lists of low and high CD (Experiment 2) or WF (Experiment 3). The effect of CD was immune to this manipulation, while that of WF was abolished in alternating lists. Altogether the findings suggest a more difficult episodic retrieval of item information for words of high CD, and a role for both item and order information in the WF effect.
AdelmanJ. S., BrownG. D. A., & QuesadaJ. F. (2006). Contextual diversity, not word frequency, determines word naming and lexical decision times. Psychological Science, 17, 814–823.
2.
AllenR., & HulmeC. (2006). Speech and language processing mechanisms in verbal serial recall. Journal of Memory and Language, 55, 64–88.
3.
AlonsoM. A., FernandezA., & DíezE. (2015). Subjective age-of-acquisition norms for 7,039 Spanish words. Behavior Research Methods, 47, 268–274.
4.
BalotaD. A., & ChumbleyJ. I. (1984). Are lexical decisions a good measure of lexical access? The role of word frequency in the neglected decision stage. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 10, 340–357.
5.
BalotaD. A., & NeelyJ. H. (1980). Test-expectancy and word recency effects in recall and recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 6, 576–587.
6.
BrownG. D. A., NeathI., & ChaterI. (2007). A temporal ration model of memory. Psychological Review, 114, 356–576.
7.
BrownG. D. A., PreeceT., & HulmeC. (2000). Oscillator-based memory for serial order. Psychological Review, 107, 127–181.
8.
BrysbaertM., BuchmeierM., ConradM., JacobsA. M., BölteJ., & BöhlA. (2011). The word frequency effect: A review of recent developments and implications for the choice of frequency estimates in German. Experimental Psychology, 58, 412–424.
9.
BrysbaertM., & NewB. (2009). Moving beyond Kučera and Francis: A critical evaluation of current word frequency norms and the introduction of a new and improved word frequency measure for American English. Behavior Research Methods, 41, 977–990.
10.
BurgessN., & HitchG. J. (1999). Memory for serial order: A network model of the phonological loop and its timing. Psychological Review, 106, 551–581.
11.
CaiQ., & BrysbaertM. (2010). SUBTLEX-CH: Chinese word and character frequencies ased on film subtitles. PLoS ONE, 5, e10729.
12.
CrissA. H., AueW. R., & SmithL. (2011). The effects of word frequency and context variability in cued recall. Journal of Memory and Language, 64, 119–132.
13.
DeeseJ. (1960). Frequency of usage and the number of words in free recall: The role of association. Psychological Reports, 7, 337–344.
14.
DeLoshE., & McDanielM. (1996). The role of order information in free recall: Application to the word-frequency effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 22, 1136–1146.
15.
DepoorterA., & VandierendonckA. (2009). Evidence for modality-independent order coding in working memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62, 531–549.
16.
DuchonA., PereaM., Sebastián-GallésN., MartíA., & CarreirasM. (2013). EsPal: One-stop shopping for Spanish word properties. Behavior Research Methods, 45, 1246–1258.
17.
FarrellS. (2012). Temporal clustering and sequencing in short-term memory and episodic memory. Psychological Review, 119, 223–271.
18.
GathercoleS. E., ServiceE., HitchG. J., AdamsA. M., & MartinA. J. (1999). Phonological short-term memory and vocabulary development: Further evidence on the nature of the relationship. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 13, 65–77.
19.
GlenbergA. M. (1979). Component-levels theory of the effects of spacing of repetitions on recall and recognition. Memory & Cognition, 7, 95–112.
20.
GraingerJ., & JacobsA. M. (1996). Orthographic processing in visual word recognition: A multiple read-out model. Psychological Review, 103, 518–565.
21.
GuptaP. (2003). Examining the relationship between word learning, nonword repetition and immediate serial recall in adults. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56A, 1213–1236.
22.
HensonR. N. A. (1998). Short-term memory for serial order: The Start-End model. Cognitive Psychology, 36, 73–137.
23.
HensonR. N. A. (1999). Coding position in short-term memory. International Journal of Psychology, 34, 403–409.
24.
HicksJ. L., MarshR. L., & CookG. I. (2005). An observation on the role of context variability in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 31, 1160–1164.
25.
HillsT., MaoueneJ., RiordanB., & SmithL. (2010). The associative structure of language: Contextual diversity in early word learning. Journal of Memory and Language, 63, 259–273.
26.
HillsT., MaoueneM., MaoueneJ., SheyaA., & SmithL. (2009). Longitudinal analysis of early semantic networks: Preferential attachment or preferential acquisition?Psychological Science, 20, 729–739.
27.
HowardM. W., & KahanaM. J. (2002). A distributed representation of temporal context. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 46, 269–299.
28.
HulmeC., MaughanS., & BrownG. D. A. (1991). Memory for familiar and unfamiliar words: Evidence for a long-term memory contribution to short-term memory span. Journal of Memory & Language, 30, 685–701.
29.
HulmeC., RoodenrysS., SchweickertR., BrownG. D. A., MartinS., & StuartG. (1997). Word-frequency effects on short-term memory tasks: Evidence for a redintegration process in immediate serial recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 23, 1217–1232.
30.
HulmeC., StuartG., BrownG. D. A., & MorinC. (2003). High and low-frequency words are recalled equally in alternating lists: Evidence for associative effects in serial recall. Journal of Memory and Language, 49, 500–518.
31.
JacohyL. L., & DallasM. (1981). On the relationship between autobiographical memory and perceptual learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 110, 306–340.
32.
KeuleersE., BrysbaertM., & NewB. (2010). SUBTLEX-NL: A new frequency measure for Dutch words based on film subtitles. Behavior Research Methods, 42, 643–650.
33.
LashleyK. S. (1951). The problem of serial order in behavior. In JeffressL. A. (Ed.), Cerebral mechanisms in behavior; the Hixon symposium (pp. 112–146). Oxford, UK: Wiley.
34.
LewandowskyS., & FarrellS. (2000). A redintegration account of the effects of speech rate, lexicality, and word frequency in immediate serial recall. Psychological Research, 63, 163–173.
35.
MacLeodC. M., & KampeK. (1996). Word frequency effects on recall, recognition, and word fragment completion tests. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 22, 132–142.
36.
MillerL. M., & RoodenrysS. (2009). The interaction of word frequency and concreteness in immediate serial recall. Memory & Cognition, 37, 850–865.
37.
MillerL. M., & RoodenrysS. (2012). Serial recall, word frequency, and mixed lists: The influence of item arrangement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, memory, and Cognition, 38(6), 1731–1740.
38.
MorrisS. B., & DeShonR. P. (2002). Combining effect size estimates in meta-analysis with repeated measures and independent-groups designs. Psychological Methods, 7(1), 105–125.
39.
MosseE. K., & JarroldC. (2008). Hebb learning, verbal short-term memory, and the acquisition of phonological forms in children. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 61, 505–514.
40.
NairneJ. S. & KelleyM. R. (2004). Separating item and order information through process dissociation. Journal of Memory and Language, 50, 113–133.
41.
NeathI. (2000). Modeling the effects of irrelevant speech on memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 7, 403–423.
42.
NewB., BrysbaertM., VeronisJ., & PallierC. (2007). The use of film subtitles to estimate word frequencies. Applied Psycholinguistics, 28, 661–677.
43.
PageM. P. A., & NorrisD. (1998). The primacy model: A new model of immediate serial recall. Psychological Review, 105, 761–781.
44.
PereaM., SoaresA. P., & ComesañaM. (2013). Contextual diversity is a main determinant of word-identification times in young readers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 116, 37–44.
45.
PlummerP., PereaM., & RaynerK. (2014). The influence of contextual diversity on eye movements in reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40, 275–283.
46.
PoirierM., & Saint-AubinJ. (1996). Immediate serial recall, word frequency, item identity and item position. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 50(4), 408–412.
47.
RederL. M., NhouyvanisvongA., SchunnC. D., AyersM. S., AngstadtP., & HirakiK. (2000). A mechanistic account of the mirror effect for word frequency: A computational model of remember–know judgments in a continuous recognition paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26, 294–320.
48.
Saint-AubinJ., & PoirierM. (1999). The influence of long-term memory factors on immediate serial recall: An item and order analysis. International Journal of Psychology, 34, 347–352.
49.
Saint-AubinJ., & PoirierM. (2005). Word frequency effects in immediate serial recall: Item familiarity and item co-occurrence have the same effect. Memory, 13, 325–332.
50.
SoaresA. P., MachadoJ., CostaA., IriarteA., SimõesA., AlmeidaJ. J., … PereaM. (2015). On the advantages of frequency measures extracted from subtitles: The case of Portuguese. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 68, 680–696.
51.
SteyversM., & MalmbergK. (2003). The effect of normative context variability on recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29, 760–766.
52.
StuartG., & HulmeC. (2000). The effects of word co-occurrence on short-term memory: Associative links in long-term memory affect short-term memory performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26, 796–802.
53.
van HeuvenW. J., ManderaP., KeuleersE., & BrysbaertM. (2014). SUBTLEX-UK: A new and improved word frequency database for British English. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 67, 1176–1790.
54.
VerkoeijenP. P. J. L., RikersR. M. J. P., & SchmidtH. G. (2004). Detrimental influence of contextual change on spacing effects in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 30, 796–800.
55.
WardG., WoodwardG., StevensA., & StinsonC. (2003). Using overt rehearsals to explain word frequency effects in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29, 186–210.
56.
WalkerI., & HulmeC. (1999). Concrete words are easier to recall than abstract words: Evidence for a semantic contribution to short-term serial recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 25, 1256–1271.
57.
WatkinsM. (1977). The intricacy of memory span. Memory & Cognition, 5, 529–534.
