Remembering

This chapter makes the case for understanding memory in terms of qualitatively different codes represented by active processes, as opposed to such memory systems as episodic and semantic memory. A distinction is made between primary memory (PM), viewed as active conscious processing, and secondary memory (SM), viewed as the long-term representations of events and knowledge. The notion that PM involves attention paid to the information held in mind is discussed in light of current views of working memory. SM is described in terms of a hierarchically organized set of analytic representations running from specific episodes to context-free knowledge, as an alternative description to Tulving’s account in terms of separate episodic and semantic systems. The role of the external context in supporting retrieval is emphasized, and also the role of executive processes in enabling self-initiated activities when such environmental support is absent. Following previous researchers, the chapter endorses the notion of remembering as a set of active analytic operations, and stresses the similarity between the processes of perceiving and remembering. These ideas are illustrated by empirical examples.