title: 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 4 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 nonverbal stimuli, such as visuospatial 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 nonverbal 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Essex.
authors.forename: Cathleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cortis
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Essex.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dent
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Essex.
authors.forename: Steffan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kennett
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Essex.
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ward
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D005145:Face; D006801:Humans; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011939:Mental Recall; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012691:Serial Learning; D013060:Speech; D013067:Speech Perception; D055698:Touch Perception