THERE ARE 2 WORD-LENGTH EFFECTS IN VERBAL SHORT-TERM-MEMORY - OPPOSEDEFFECTS OF DURATION AND COMPLEXITY

In the word-length effect (WLE), lists of shorter words are better rec alled than lists of longer words. This effect is fundamental to decay- based theories of verbal short-term memory,: such as the phonological loop theory (Baddeley, 1986). The WLE has been attributed to the time taken to articulate, words, not their structure, a critical point in t he debate between decay and interference theories. However, word durat ion and complexity have previously been confounded. In this article, M le show that the traditional WLE comprises two opposed effects: an adv antage for words spoken more quickly (short words in terms of duration ) and an advantage for words with more elements (long words in terms o f complexity). We also report two interactions: a disadvantage for a m idlist change in duration and an advantage for a midlist change in com plexity. These results contradict simple decay-based theories and esta blish the importance of interference in short term memory. We discuss whether decay is also required.