Memory for associations and order

从学习工作的方式，到记忆剧本或旋律的音符，记忆对于复杂的知识和行为都是必不可少的。因此，了解记忆的认知和大脑活动基础对于理解自然发生的行为和设计有效的人工记忆至关重要。这意味着不仅要记住信息的个别片段，还要记住它们之间的关系，其中最简单的是配对(例如，Brad-Angelina)，称为“联想记忆”，或序列(例如，电话号码，故事中的事件顺序)，称为“顺序记忆”。一个有趣的想法是，大脑可能以非常相似的方式进行联想和顺序记忆。如果支持这种“公共进程”的观点，我们将能够更简洁地理解更广泛的内存功能。构建公共进程模型有两种方法：1)“链接”模型学习有序列表(ABC...)通过将关联(A-B、B-C等)链接在一起。2)“位置编码”模型学习每个物品(A-1，B-2，C-3，...)的位置代码，并可以通过将成对的物品链接到共同的位置来学习一组配对。行为研究结果既支持这两种模式，也挑战这两种模式。大脑活动测量(事件相关电位、事件相关电位和节律)可以帮助我们比较模型，但脑电研究才刚刚开始解决顺序记忆问题。

From learning our way to work, to memorizing a script or notes of a melody, memory is essential for complex knowledge and behaviour. Understanding the cognitive and brain-activity basis of memory is therefore central to understanding naturally occurring behaviour and to designing effective artificial memories. This means remembering not just individual pieces of information, but also their relationships, the simplest of which are pairings (e.g., BRAD-ANGELINA), called "association-memory," or sequences (e.g., phone numbers, sequence of events in a story), called "order-memory." One intriguing idea is that the brain may carry out association- and order-memory in very similar ways. If this "common-processes" view were supported, that would allow us to understand a broader range of memory functions more concisely. There are two ways to build a common-processes model: 1) "Chaining" models learn an ordered list (ABC...) by linking together associations (A-B, B-C, ...). 2) "Positional coding" models learn a position-code for each item (A-1, B-2, C-3, ...), and can learn a set of pairs by linking paired items to a common position. Behavioural findings have both supported and challenged both models. Brain-activity measures (event-related potentials, ERPs, and rhythms) could help us compare models, but EEG studies have only begun to address order-memory.