Empirical research is reviewed in the area of cognitive psychology pertaining to models of human memory. Research evidence and theoretical considerations are combined to develop guidelines for future theory development related to the human memory. The following theoretical constructs and variables are discussed: (1) storage versus process models--retention of the encoded trace in a memory store and retrieval of the trace; (2) stages of memory--perceptual, short-term, and long-term memory; (3) semantic versus episodic memory--situation-general, meaning-related knowledge, versus learning specifically related to an episode or series of episodes; (4) meaningfulness--verbal associations related to a word; (5) imagery--an internal layout which contributes to interpretation of the stimulus; (6) concreteness--the direct relationship between a stimulus and a sensory experience; (7) theme--association with the central idea of a passage; (8) surface from versus meaning--sentence structure versus semantics; (9) integration; and (10) clustering, categorization, and hierarchies--methods of organization which subjects impost on materials. A chart summarizing the research reported in this review and a bibliography are included. (MH)