Positional uncertainty in long-term memory

Abstract

Long-term memory for position was examined from the perspective of an immediate memory framework, the perturbation model of Estes (Estes, 1972; Lee & Estes, 1977, 1981). First, a simple version of the perturbation model is shown to provide a reasonable fit of previously reported long-term data (Nairne, 1990b), even though the perturbation idea was developed to explain the phenomena of immediate retention. Second, new results are reported that extend the application to multiple dimensions. Long-term memories for list and within-list position appear to mimic the classic patterns of immediate retention, in that both show bow-shaped serial position curves and error generalization gradients that are roughly symmetrical around the true serial position.