Conclusions
It has been emphasized in the present book that information retrieved from memory constantly changes. Traditionally, this shift has been described as the function of links, connecting each set of information to the next. This chapter has focused on one such “link,” the process that generates order recall, since order memory has probably been researched in greater depth than any other form of recall.
Under the traditional view, bodies of content were seen as being linked or associated together in a direct fashion. The function involved here seemed relatively simple, and is certainly easy to conceptualize: that of forming a connection between two or more elements. But when the large body of our knowledge concerning the properties of order recall is considered (including omissions, transpositions, and intrusions), it emerges that the relevant functions are in fact highly complex. A goal of the present chapter was to demonstrate the complexity of this particular function. A further claim is being advanced here: that movement of other kinds (i.e. other kinds of “links”) involve equally complex functions. These latter remain to be identified.