semantic memory
Summary
Semantic memory is the part of explicit (declarative) memory that stores general knowledge, such as facts, concepts and word meanings, usually without recalling when or where they were learned. The key contrast is with episodic memory, which holds personally experienced events.
Detail
Meaning: Semantic memory is a type of explicit (declarative) memory that stores general knowledge: facts, concepts and word meanings, such as Paris being the capital of France. It is usually recalled without remembering when or where it was learned. Its counterpart, episodic memory, holds personally experienced events.
On the MCAT: Expect scenarios to classify as semantic, episodic or procedural. Knowing the rules of chess is semantic; recalling one particular match is episodic; moving pieces by habit is procedural (implicit). Semantic memory is also tied to network models, where concepts are linked nodes and activating one spreads activation to related nodes, speeding recognition of related words in priming tasks. Semantic encoding, which means processing meaning, is a deeper level of processing than structural or phonemic encoding and generally improves recall.
Common confusion: A general fact is semantic, but remembering the experience of learning it (the classroom, the day) is episodic. Semantic memory is also still explicit, since it is consciously retrieved, so do not group it with implicit memory.
Sources
- Psychology (Myers)
- Psychology (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner)
- Cognitive Psychology (Goldstein)
Written for the MCAT and checked before it was published. For study reference only. Spotted an error? Let us know.