Question about references

[bingomanatee]

I have a question about refrences.

I know if you have a function that returns an array and you designate
it and its recipient by "at" signs the reference is included.

/*** SAMPLE 1 *********/

function &refer_this(){ return array(1, 2, 3); };
$my_var =& $refer_this();

/***** END SAMPLE 1 **********/

What about situations where there isn't an equal sign to ampersand? for
instance if you include the array in an array directly? or as a
parameter in another function?

/********* SAMPLE 2 ***********/

$my_array = array(4, refer_this(), 6);

/********** SAMPLE 3 ************/

function &refer_that(&$ele1, $ele2, $ele3)
{
return array($ele1, $ele2, $ele3);
}

$my_other_array =& refer_that(refer_this(), 8, 9);

/******* END SAMPLES ***************/

is the referential integrity maintained in these cases?