Regrettably, psychologists have left the investigation of these phenomena to novelists, playwrights, diplomats, journalists and the like and ignored their implications. In our legal system, two or more such accounts are presented, and a jury must choose among them. Psychological theory proposes that we make some kind of record, correct or not, in our heads, our neurons, or short or long-term storage, as the events occur, and that this record is preserved, essentially intact through time, except insofar as it progressively deteriorates, like so many canned goods on the grocer's shelf, or as it may be tampered with. Then, at the time of recall, these theories propose that the question is primarily one of finding the records in the files, or library, and of taking them out for inspection and use. Once these records could be made, stored, and consulted at later dates, complex and extensive societies could emerge.
Records are perhaps the least plausible of metaphors for understanding remembering.
This seems to be the pattern for psychological theorizing. Our theorists use as models for behavior just those things, processes, and concepts that people have developed to do the things that people cannot themselves do. It should be unnecessary to point out that the wheel and the sail do not serve as useful models for walking and running or for swimming. Even less are their principles useful for predicting when and where we will go, although they may determine how we get there. As we develop new technologies, we flatter ourselves for the wrong reason.