ABSTRACT
People can recall a sequence of short words in the correct order more accurately than they can recall a sequence of long words. This, the wordlength effect, is one of the most salient features of immediate serial recall. In this chapter we shall briefly review the original evidence for the wordlength effect, and how this led to the proposal of the phonological loop model of working memory. We shall then discuss more recent evidence that questions the original interpretation of the word-length effect, and strongly contests one fundamental assumption of the model. Finally, we consider some recent alternatives to the phonological loop and discuss the extent to which these recent accounts meet current requirements.
