Development of phonological working memory: The role of rehearsal and lexicality in the effect of phonological similarity

The present investigation on developmental differences in the phonological similarity effect (PSE) addresses the dependence of PSE on rehearsal and lexicality. Five-and nine-year-old children reproduced series of phonologically similar and dissimilar words and nonwords under standard and articulatory suppression conditions. The PSE on memory span proved to be independent of age and was not moderated by articulatory suppression. For nonwords the similarity effect was more pronounced than for words. The results are in line with the view that the PSE is not based on rehearsal but rather on confusions in reconstructing decaying traces in working memory.