Rehearsal and the word frequency effect in recognition memory

Abstract Performance on low frequency words is better than performance on higher frequency words in recognition memory. Many theorists have suggested that encoding factors contribute to this word frequency effect. In this paper we consider whether rehearsal, a specific encoding factor, contributes to the low frequency advantage in recognition memory. A rehearsal explanation predicts that, all other things being equal, the word frequency effect should increase with presentation duration. We present four experiments whose results are inconsistent with this prediction. We close by discussing two alternative explanations of the current results.