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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 December 1998
Because nearly all human behavior depends to some degree onfunctioning of the memory system, progress in understanding the diverse psychopathologicaleffects of trauma must be expected to reflect the state of research and theory on human memory.An informal survey of literature on research in psychopathology reveals increasing attention toprocesses of memory and cognition but an absence of citations of the models of memory thatsubsume research results and mediate their applications. In this article, a series of steps is takenwith the aim of redressing this situation. The first is an overview of contemporary models ofmemory. From these a set of widely supported assumptions about basic processes and structuresis abstracted to form a composite model, which is illustrated in application to several majorresearch paradigms. Finally, consideration is given to implications of the composite model foreffects of psychopathological trauma and for some aspects of the maturation and decline ofmemory functions throughout the life span.