Long-term memory effects on verbal short-term memory: A replication study

The influence of lexico-semantic language representations stored in long-term memory (LTM) on short-term memory (STM) performance has been studied extensively in adults. However, there are relatively few data on lexico-semantic LTM effects on STM in children. On the other hand, the influence of phonological LTM effects on STM has been studied more extensively in children than in adults. In this study, we explored whether these different LTM effects on verbal STM could be replicated in both adults and children by administering immediate serial recall tasks (ISR) for high- and low-frequency words, for high- and low-imageability words, for words and non-words, and for high and low phonotactic frequency non-words to 6-, 8-, and 10-year-old children, to adolescents and to adults. Significant word frequency, lexicality and phonotactic frequency effects were observed in all age groups, as well as a word imageability effect which was, however, weaker than the other three effects. Our data suggest that LTM effects on STM are equivalent in both children and adults.