ABSTRACT
Most people believe that remembering consists of recalling information to report it or to think about it. When we are asked, we can usually report what we ate for breakfast, the latest hit tune or movie, or the result of taking the square root of 4. We can divulge this information or we can think about related information that we know about eating breakfast, pursuing entertainment or doing mathematical problems. The common understanding of remembering is that this process involves a conscious act of recalling what we have just experienced or previously learned. Just as we might look for a book in the library, we look inside our minds for information with our success depending upon whether the information is known or, analogously, by whether the book is in the library. However, this view of remembering is far too simple. Remembering consists of a variety of complex processes that sometimes involve conscious intent and sometimes do not.
