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Serial learning has been studied in vertebrate species using two different methods. One consists of the successive presentation of several items, and the animal has to respond according to this order. As shown by a systematic enhanced recall of the items presented last (recency effect), short-term memory processes appear to play a determinant role at least at the beginning of successive serial learning. The second method consists of the presentation of all items simultaneously, and the animal learns the correct order of responding. Serial learning mechanisms involve various discriminative processes (special status of the first and last items, conditional discrimination learning, temporal distance to the reinforcer) , rule learning and the development of a mental representation (linear or associative) of the series. These mechanisms appear to vary according to the species tested, and according to several experimental parameters, such as the serial learning method, the learning procedure and the series' length. Involvement of more elaborate processes does not seem to rule out involvement of less elaborate processes at the beginning of training or on early learning phases with a partial series which precede later phases with the entire series.
