ABSTRACT
We find ourselves in a definitional nightmare. As we conceive of our task, we are to chart the relation between attention and memory or, more narrowly, to determine whether attention is necessary for memory and, if it is, how attending affects memorizing and remembering. Our problem is that there is simply no consensus on the nature of either memory or attention. It is not merely that there are variations on a theme; rather, different researchers depict extreme opposites. If we are ever to make headway on our main task of mapping the relation between attention and memory, then we must unravel some of this confusion, or at least firmly stake claim to the theoretical territory in which we feel most comfortable. Hopefully, in doing so, we can proceed with charting the relation between memory and attention without becoming caught in a murky swirl of competing theories.
