ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes the hypothesis that remembering a recently experienced, natural event like a traffic accident involves accessing an indistinct and vague image of low resolution followed by a finer grain analysis that brings the image into sharper focus. Remembering involves activating not the entire cognitive scene but only that portion of the scene needed for some specific purpose. When memories are weak, details are filled in to make the memory coherent. These details are derived from internal sources like general knowledge, or from external sources like suggestions from other people. This way of viewing memory for recent experience force a change in traditional ways of thinking about the memory failures of amnesia, the elderly, and others. The chapter proposes an idea to serve as an anchor for the discussion: Remembering is similar. It proceeds from a vague, fuzzy, global structure toward more and more finegrained analysis.
