The effects of word length and phonemic similarity in young children's short-term memory

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that word length and phonemic similarity effects in young children's recall with auditory presentation result from verbal output, and not: (1) rehearsal in the case of word length effects; (2) confusion at input in the case of phonemic similarity effects. In an auditorily presented probed recall task, where there were no full verbal output requirements, children aged five years did not show either effect. Children aged seven years showed both word length and phonemic similarity effects. It was concluded that, in children of age five, word length effects can not necessarily be taken as evidence for rehearsal, nor can the phonemic similarity effect be assumed to result from confusion at input. It is suggested that the process of saying a list verbally may cause both of these effects, and that care must be taken to distinguish input and output processes in the development of children's short-term memory.