What is the phonological similarity effect?

• A. Similar-sounding items are harder to recall in order due to confusion in the phonological store.
• B. Visually similar items are harder to recall.
• C. Semantic similarity enhances recall.
• D. Phonological similarity has no effect on short-term memory.

Answer: (A)

The phonological similarity effect shows that sequences of items that sound alike are harder to recall in their exact order because they get confused in the phonological store of the verbal working memory system. In the Working Memory Model, information you rehearse subvocally is stored in a speech-based phonological store and refreshed by the articulatory loop. When items share similar sounds, their phonological codes overlap, increasing the chance of mixing up which item came first, second, and so on. This is most evident in immediate serial recall tasks with letters or digits, where recall accuracy drops for acoustically similar sequences. The effect is stronger when you can easily rehearse the sequence, and it weakens if you’re prevented from subvocal rehearsal (articulatory suppression), because there’s less opportunity to refresh the phonological codes and reduce confusion. Visually similar or semantically related items involve different memory systems or encoding processes, so they don’t produce the same disturbance in short-term recall. Therefore, similar-sounding items are harder to recall in order due to phonological store confusion.