Good and bad effects of phonological similarity on word and nonword recall: The role of beginnings and ends

This study explored whether earlier results of differential (harmful vs. helpful) short-term memory effects of shared syllables at nonword beginnings compared to ends could be replicated for lists of bisyllabic real words. We studied immediate serial recall of lists that had phonologically redundant syllables at the beginnings or ends of two-syllable words or nonwords. The results showed that redundancy at the beginning had a negative effect on both types of material. Redundancy at the end did not impair memory for nonwords but harmed the serial recall of words. Irrespective of lexicality, lists of beginning-redundant items were more difficult to recall than end-redundant items. The distribution of errors suggested that the better recall of end-redundant lists compared to beginning-redundant lists was related to a positive effect at encoding and/or retention, independent of effects at recall, for both words and nonwords.