ABSTRACT
Two years ago, we set out to develop a theory of human memory, a theory which was to span a wide range of mnemonic phenomena. We are now humbled by the immensity of this task; human memory is a complex mental capacity, and our ability to comprehend man's mind appears at times quite limited. But Solomon calls us to the task of understanding, to be "exercised" by its sore travail. And so we tried. In countless hours of conversations, we discussed, proposed, role-played, argued, laughed, cajoled, reasoned, debunked, and just plain talked to one another about the problems of human memory. The time has come for us to commit to print a fraction of the things we have thought about human memory in the hope of helping others to think about this problem-which we consider to be the supreme intellectual puzzle of the century.
