A model of short-term memory and episodic memory is presented, with the core assumptions that (a) people parse their continuous experience into episodic clusters and (b) items are clustered together in memory as episodes by binding information within an episode to a common temporal context. Along with the additional assumption that information…

We find the reply by Kahana, Sederberg, and Howard helpful in clarifying the temporal-context model (TCM) function, in particular with regard to the elimination of the recency effect by a difficult distractor under parameters that still enable long-term contiguity effects to emerge. We agree with Kahana et al. that what matters most to the…

The temporal context model posits that search through episodic memory is driven by associations between the multiattribute representations of items and context. Context, in turn, is a recency weighted sum of previous experiences or memories. Because recently processed items are most similar to the current representation of context, M. Usher, E. J.…

A model of memory retrieval is described. The model embodies four main claims: (a) temporal memory--traces of items are represented in memory partly in terms of their temporal distance from the present; (b) scale-similarity--similar mechanisms govern retrieval from memory over many different timescales; (c) local distinctiveness--performance on a…

Recent theoretical developments in the field of absolute identification have stressed differences between relative and absolute processes, that is, whether stimulus magnitudes are judged relative to a shorter term context provided by recently presented stimuli or a longer term context provided by the entire set of stimuli. The authors developed a…

The authors model the neural mechanisms underlying spatial cognition, integrating neuronal systems and behavioral data, and address the relationships between long-term memory, short-term memory, and imagery, and between egocentric and allocentric and visual and ideothetic representations. Long-term spatial memory is modeled as attractor dynamics…

A model of interference and forgetting based on the search of associative memory (SAM) theory is presented. The SAM theory describes retrieval processes in long-term memory. A model of contextual fluctuation processes is incorporated to provide a time-dependent variable to handle time-based interference phenomena. (SLD)

A theoretical framework of working memory is proposed in which cognitive processes are viewed as a sequence of stable states representing end products of processing. In skilled activities, acquired memory skills allow these end products to be stored in long-term memory and kept accessible through short-term memory retrieval cues. (SLD)

In the single-store model of memory, the enhanced recall for the last items in a free-recall task (i.e., the recency effect) is understood to reflect a general property of memory rather than a separate short-term store. This interpretation is supported by the finding of a long-term recency effect under conditions that eliminate the contribution…