Introduction

Over the past 20 years, the study of human memory has become an increasingly popular topic of study for psychologists, and since the late 1960s a new framework for studying memory has begun to take shape. It is the purpose of this book to present a broad overview of this framework, including descriptions of (1) the major theoretical components of the framework and (2) the critical research findings that justify the establishment of these components and illuminate the mechanisms by which they operate. The book is not meant to constitute an exhaustive review of the enormous research literature that has accrued over the years. The authors deliberately avoid wading into masses of detail on any given topic area, and we deliberately sidestep a number of current theoretical controversies. Instead, this book has been planned to be a guide and an introduction for the student or interested layman with little or no background in the area of memory as a field of psychological inquiry.