Skill and Strategy in Memory Use

To use memory effectively, we must do much more than shuttle information into and out of storage. Much of our use of memory is actually the action of higher-level decision making on the inputs to and the outputs from memory stores. The central premise of this volume is that the many capabilities of memory reflect not the action and interaction of multiple memory systems but rather the myriad of ways in which memory queries can be strategically devised for the task at hand and the degree to which the products of memory can be flexibly acted upon. The chapters here review research that demonstrates how we select strategies for querying memory effectively, how we successfully remember to perform intended actions, how the skillful use of encoding and retrieval strategies can moderate memory deficits and support expertise, and how we accommodate our responses and monitor our output in order to satisfy situational demands while making optimal use of the information that our memory provides us with.