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Positional information in short-term memory: relative or absolute?

¹University College London, England. rhenson@fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk

Memory & Cognition

|November 30, 1999

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Short-term memory for serial order uses position information, not just temporal coding. Errors in recall respect sequence positions, supporting models with start and end markers.

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Memory Research

Background:

Short-term memory for serial order is crucial for recalling sequences.
Existing models debate how item positions are encoded (e.g., temporal, absolute, or relative).
Previous research on positional errors used only equal-length sequences.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if short-term memory encodes item positions relative to sequence boundaries.
To test sequence memory models using varying sequence lengths.
To determine if positional information is absolute, temporal, or relative to sequence ends.

Main Methods:

Two experiments involving recall of sequences with varying lengths.
Analysis of substitution errors (transpositions and intrusions) within and between sequences.

Related Experiment Videos

Comparison of error patterns against predictions from different positional coding models.

Main Results:

Substitution errors consistently respected item positions relative to both the start and end of sequences.
This positional effect was observed even when comparing sequences of different lengths.
Error patterns did not align with models solely based on temporal or absolute position coding.

Conclusions:

Short-term memory for serial order likely utilizes positional information encoded by start and end markers.
Temporal or absolute coding models are less supported by the observed error patterns.
The findings suggest a robust mechanism for relative positional encoding in sequence memory.