Storage and retrieval of serial-order information

Abstract

In this paper I will first review some seminal work by Conrad on the storage and retrieval of serial-order information which is still very relevant today. Then I will discuss the TODAM (theory of distributed associative memory) approach to serial-order effects. I will compare the three TODAM serial-order models (the chaining model, the chunking model and the power-set model; Murdock, 1995) but concentrate on the power set model. Its original problems can be solved, but a revised and augmented version has some new problems. This paper is more of a progress report than a finished product, so the reader should be prepared to follow the twists and turns of the argument.