It has been found that adults show better recall of lists of phonologically dissimilar words than lists of phonologically similar words with visual presentation. This phonological similarity effect is usually attributed to the use of covert verbal rehearsal. Previous studies, however, have shown that 5‐year‐old children do not show this effect with purely visual presentation. In the present study, 5‐year‐olds were trained to carry out either overt or covert verbal rehearsal. Both groups showed significant effects of phonological similarity, but the overt rehearsal group produced a significantly larger one. A third group of children received no training in verbal rehearsal, and did not show differential recall of the two types of stimuli, thus replicating earlier work on 5‐year‐olds. This group did, however, show a primacy effect, despite the fact that this is generally thought to be a product of verbal rehearsal.
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