Modelling transposition latencies: Constraints for theories of serial order memory

Several competing theories of short-term memory can explain serial recall performance at a quantitative level. However, most theories to date have not been applied to the accompanying pattern of response latencies, thus ignoring a rich and highly diagnostic aspect of performance. This article explores and tests the error latency predictions of four alternative mechanisms for the representation of serial order. Data from three experiments show that latency is a negative function of transposition displacement, such that list items that are reported too soon (ahead of their correct serial position) are recalled more slowly than items that are reported too late. We show by simulation that these data rule out three of the four representational mechanisms. The data support the notion that serial order is represented by a primacy gradient that is accompanied by suppression of recalled items.