ABSTRACT
Memory for temporal order has been studied extensively in healthy individuals as well as in different patient groups. These studies have made a significant theoretical contribution to the understanding of normal and abnormal human memory. Hasher and Zacks (1979) claimed that temporal order, along with frequency of occurrence and spatial location, are encoded automatically. As such, they are unaffected by either person variables (e.g., age, intelligence, or mood) or task variables (e.g., instructions, strategy, or practice). Some studies have supported Hasher and Zacks' claim by demonstrating invariance in performance over age or instructional conditions (Audy, Sullivan, & Gross, 1988; Azary, Audy, & Gross, 1989). By contrast, other studies have reported results that are at odds with Hasher and Zacks' claim (Kausler, Lichty, & Davis, 1985; Kausler, Salthouse, & Saults, 1988; McCormack, 1981; Naveh-Benjamin, 1990; Vakil & Tweedy, 1994; Vakil et al., 1997).
