Multiple Memory Systems

Multiple Memory Systems

1. Declarative Memory

   • Is what is usually meant by the term memory in ordinary langauge
   • Kind of memory impaired in amnesia
   • Has been termed explicit memory
   • Assessed by tests of recall, recognition, or cued recall
   • Provides a representational vocabulary for modeling the external world, and the resulting models can be evaluated as either true or false with respect to the world.
   • impairment in recollection can occur despite intact perceptual abilities and normal performance on intelligence tests.
   • Two subtypes: Semantic and Episodic memory
     • Semantic is shared by everyone
     • Episodic is shared by one person

2. Nondeclarative Memory

   • refers to a variety of memories
   • most notable memory is procedural memory
   • is expressed through action rather than recollection.
   • reflect the qualities of the learning experience
   • demonstrations have shown normal rates of learning in a variety of skills without conscious awareness that the learning has taken place
   • no specific brain system related to establishing nondeclarative memories

3. Focuses on identifying functionally and anatomically distinct systems, which differ in their "methods of acquisition, representation, and expression of knowledge: