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Scientific Understanding of Consciousness |
Semantic Memory
Semantic memory consists of stored information about the features and attributes that define concepts and processes that allow us to efficiently retrieve, act upon and produce this information in the service of thought and language. Semantic memory refers to knowledge of the world. This system represents organized information such as facts, concepts, and vocabulary. (Squire; Memory and Brain, 169) There is an important distinction between semantic memory and episodic memory. (Baddeley, et.al.; Memory, 134) Semantic knowledge is largely a context-free form of information. It is the "meaning" of things. (Buzsáki; Rhythms of the Brain, 292) Multiple overlapping observations with common junctions are the source of semantic knowledge. (Buzsáki; Rhythms of the Brain, 330) The large sector of individual long-term memory that is called semantic memory is widely distributed in the cortex. (Fuster; Memory in Cerebral Cortex, 140) We often use semantic memory successfully by inferring the right answer. (Baddeley, et.al.; Memory, 117) Language depends largely on semantic memory. (Ratey; User's Guide to Brain, 202) Semantic memory is usually derived from a learning process.
Link to — Semantic Working Memory System
Return to — Episodic Memory Return to — Memory Return to — Declarative Memory Return to — Language
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