Refining the bigger picture: On the integrative memory model

The integrative memory model contains multiple subsystems. In this commentary, the processes within these subsystems are questioned. First, the assumption that familiarity largely reflects perceptual fluency is examined. Next, the distinction between “process” and “representational” models of temporal lobe function is challenged. Finally, the “relational representation core system” (or “extended hippocampal system”), which is central to the model, is especially sketchy. Here, I highlight key questions to be addressed in order to understand this system's role in trace formation.