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Order is ordinal in serial memory
Simon D Lilburn1, Gordon D Logan1
1Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University.
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition
|November 13, 2025
Summary
Memory order relies on sequence, not precise spacing. Experiments show that changing the spatial arrangement of items does not affect memory recall accuracy, supporting ordinal theories of memory.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Human Memory Research
- Perception and Memory
Background:
- Understanding how humans represent order in memory is crucial for cognitive theories.
- Existing theories of serial memory differ on whether order is based on ordinal or metric relationships.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of metric (spatial) relationships in memory for order.
- To differentiate between ordinal and metric theories of serial memory representation.
Main Methods:
- Four experiments employed a cued recognition procedure.
- Participants matched a cued letter from a probe array to a memory list.
- Spacing between letters in memory lists and probe arrays was manipulated (same vs. different).
- Memory performance was compared to perceptual matching performance under identical spacing conditions.
Main Results:
- Memory performance remained consistent regardless of changes in item spacing.
- Perceptual matching performance was significantly affected by spacing changes, worsening when spacing differed.
- This indicates a dissociation between perceptual and memorial representations of order.
Conclusions:
- Order in perception is based on metric relationships, while order in memory is not.
- Results support ordinal theories of serial memory.
- Metric information, if stored, is not essential for memory retrieval.
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