Evaluate neuropsychological evidence from humans that suggests that declarative and non-declarative memories are formed in different systems.
Memory is a widely studied topic within psychology, due to the multiple elements within it. Two of these elements include declarative memory (‘knowing what’; the conscious recalling of facts or events) and non-declarative memory (the influence of an experience on behaviour, even if the influence is not recognised (Kalat, 2013). Throughout this essay, declarative and non-declarative memory may be used interchangeably with explicit and implicit memory respectively. It has been suggested that memory is composed of multiple systems and after a review of recent literature, it is concluded that declarative
…show more content…
Multiple-System Memory Theory (Squire, 2004) is the idea that long term memory is composed of individual systems that are independent of one another and handle different types of memories, i.e. declarative, non-declarative. Studying people with deficits, as in amnesia, allows us to observe the effect of brain damage on certain areas of memory, which would be impossible on people of healthy disposition. Amnesia is “a fundamental deficit in relational (declarative) memory processing” (Althoff, Cohen, Ryan & Whitlow, 2000) which is thought to be caused by brain damage to the limbic system including the medial temporal lobe. Amnesic patients tend to be impaired in declarative memory (explicit) but can show intact functioning in non-declarative memory (implicit) (Fleischman, Gabrieli, Keane, Morrell & Reminger, 1995). There are different types of amnesia; retrograde amnesia is the inability to remember events before the brain damage and anterograde amnesia being the inability to store new memories (Kalat, 2013). A frequent method used to study the ability of amnesic patients is that of case …show more content…
who underwent surgery to remove the hippocampus and some parts of the medial temporal lobe in both hemispheres, in an attempt to cure epilepsy (Scoville & Milner, 1957). As a result, H.M. developed both anterograde and retrograde amnesia that meant he was severely impaired on declarative memory tests. However, on measures of non-declarative memory, H.M. was found to have a competent ability. This can be portrayed on a procedural memory task such as the Rotary Pursuit Task. Procedural memory (the development of motor skills and habits (Kalat, 2013)) is a type of implicit or non-declarative memory. H.M. was able to hold a stylus on a rotating disk for more time, every time he attempted the task (Corkin, 1968). This shows that there was learning throughout the task and thus shows evidence for an intact procedural non-declarative memory system. This is compelling evidence that the two types of memories as above are formed in different systems, as if they were in the same area of the brain, H.M. would experience non-declarative memory deficits as
Hippocampus is a small, curved region, which exists in both hemispheres of the brain and plays a vital role in emotions, learning and acquisition of new information. It also contributes majorly to long term memory, which is permanent information stored in the brain. Although long term memory is the last information that can be forgotten, its impairment has become very common nowadays. The dysfunction is exemplified by many neurological disorders such as amnesia. There are two types of amnesia, anterograde and retrograde. Anterograde amnesia is inability in forming new information, while retrograde refers to the loss of the past memory. As suggested by Cipolotti and Bird (2006), hippocampus’s lesions are responsible for both types of amnesia. According to multiple trace theory, the author suggests that hippocampal region plays a major role in effective retrieving of episodic memory (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). For example, patients with hippocampal damage show extensively ungraded retrograde amnesia (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). They have a difficult time in retrieving information from their non-personal episodic events and autobiographical memory. However, this theory conflicts with standard model of consolidation. The difference between these theories suggests that researchers need to do more work to solve this controversy. Besides retrieving information, hippocampus is also important in obtaining new semantic information, as well as familiarity and recollection (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). For instance, hippocampal amnesic patient V.C shows in ability to acquire new semantic knowledge such as vocabularies and factual concepts (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). He is also unable to recognize and recall even...
...Baddeley (1966) study of encoding in the short term memory and long term memory supports the MSM model on the mode of processing such that words are processed on recall and both models share the same opinion that processing does influence recall. Finally, the MSM model of memory states that all information is stored in the long term memory, however, this interpretation contrasts with that of Baddeley (1974) who argue that we store different types of memories and it is unlikely that they occur only in the LTM store. Additionally, other theories have recognised different types of memories that we experience, therefore it is debatable that all these different memories occur only in the long-term memory as presumed by the multi-store model which states the long term memory store as with unlimited capacity, in addition it also fails to explain how we recall information.
Understanding the reasoning behind amnesia and the hippocampus is of critical importance in neuroscience. Discussed by Cipolotti & Bird (2006), LTM impairments can lead to anterograde and retrograde amnesia if the medial temporal lobe (MTL) is damaged bilaterally. Specifically, the two most important types of LTM related to anterograde and retrograde amnesia are episodic and semantic memories. Conversely, many researchers have long debated the true functions of the hippocampus and have allowed two theories to emerge. The standard model of consolidation (SMC) assumes that the hippocampus is important in consolidating LTM, while the multiple trace theory (MTT) argues that information is encoded by specific memory traces by the hippocampus. These two theories help further explain the vast functions of the hippocampus. However, in regards to amnesic patients, the SMC has proven to be more widely accepted due to reported results implying that the hippocampus is important in consolidating LTM. In contrast, in anterograde patients, memories can be retrieved through recollection and familiarity. In fact, it has been proposed that the recol...
Human memory is flexible and prone to suggestion. “Human memory, while remarkable in many ways, does not operate like a video camera” (Walker, 2013). In fact, human memory is quite the opposite of a video camera; it can be greatly influenced and even often distorted by interactions with its surroundings (Walker, 2013). Memory is separated into three different phases. The first phase is acquisition, which is when information is first entered into memory or the perception of an event (Samaha, 2011). The next phase is retention. Retention is the process of storing information during the period of time between the event and the recollection of a piece of information from that event (Samaha, 2011). The last stage is retrieval. Retrieval is recalling stored information about an event with the purpose of making an identification of a person in that event (Samaha, 2011).
With the way that amnesiacs’ memory work, and patients with MS or focal lesions or Alzheimer’s disease, their implicit memory still functions as would be expected and their explicit memory performs lower than typical . This would explain why they can remember how to speak, walk, and do other basic living and survival functions and why they cannot recall their own name or phone number without the right retrieval method.
Memory can be defined as the mental system for receiving, encoding, storing, organising, altering and retrieving information (Coon & Mitterer, 2012). Many a time one is able to remember something, example how to drive a car, yet they are unable to remember a mathematical formula for an examination. People vary in their ability to remember certain things, and research conducted has proven that even infants differ in their memory abilities (Fagan & Singer, 1963). It was discovered by psychologists that memory is not static, but rather it is influenced by ones internal factors and situational happenings to a large effect (Huffman, Vernoy & Vernoy, 1997). This essay will attempt to discover which method of study is most suitable, by listing and explaining various memory strategies, as well as indicating how each method will improve memory efficiency. The process of memory is made up of three operations. The first being Encoding, this is the conversion of information into a form which enables it to be retained in memory (Coon & Mitterer, 2012). The second operation is called Storage, this is the keeping of information until it is later needed. The third and final operation is known as Retrieval, and this is the recovering of information from Storage (Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus & Wagenaar, 2009). These formerly mentioned operations each represent a stage in the process of memory (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012).
Definition of memory and it's functions is difficult to illustrate by a single sentence. Consequently we use several metaphors to describe memory implicitly. Our beliefs, perceptions and imagination influence memory. The fact gave rise to memory being described as a reconstructive process, explaining that memory is not an exact record of a particular experience. Instead we bring various components together and fill in the blanks with our predisposed schemas while recalling. The metaphor building "an entire dinosaur skeleton from fossils" is the indirect way to describe memory as cognitive reconstruction. Remembering includes using schemas which are the mental representations of a concept, person or an event.They rejuvenate an incomplete memory such that it is perceived to be an undiminished one. Of course there are errors experienced when recalling which supports the idea of imperfect memory. These can be errors of commission, adding details which were not a part of the experience and errors of omission, which is excluding some aspects of the experience. In this paper I will support the selected metaphor and will provide evidence approving it.
In the field of cognitive neuroscience a memory study usually involves a combination of behavioral tasks and a machine that permits t...
Human memory has been used by human as a tool to learn and think which includes social interactions, life management as well as problem solving (Loftus and Palmer 1974). Memory can be defined as the retention of information over time. Although memory is an instrument human use everyday, contemporary psychological scrutiny displayed that human memory is not a visionary reconstruction of earlier occasions making it less reliable compared to what an individual would alleged at the first place. In this paper it will be argued that human memory for past events are often influenced by other factors which can lead to inaccurate informations received. This argument is supported from studies made by Loftus and Palmer (1974), who found that human memory is not perfect since false memories can be constructed and manipulated using misleading particulars which subsequently produced deformity of memory and promote to wrong reminiscence. Evidence for this argument also can be seen from studies made by Levinger and Clark (1961), who found that human memory is not reliably accurate since false memory can be formed due to repression that may happen to an individual.
The question then becomes whether declarative and non-declarative memory are in fact separate or different manifestations of the same neural process. From research on H.M., we find evidence for the existence of a declarative memory system that is independent of non-declarative memory and other forms of intelligence. H.M. had the capacity to hold information in his head for a period of time, suggesting that his working memory was intact (Squire and Wixted, 2011). Further evidence that not all memory is the same is the fact that H.M. acquired a motor skill despite not being able to remember actually learning the skill, thus showing the difference between episodic and semantic memory. Amnesiacs are able to acquire the perceptual skill of reading mirror-reversed words at a normal rate compared to controls (Cohen and Squire, 1980), demonstrating that the ability to learn new perceptual skills also remains intact. Of the forms of non-declarative memory, procedural memory involves the cerebellum, motor cortex, and basal ganglia (General Intro the Neurobiology…). Thus, non-declarative memory can, in a way, be seen as a more primitive form of memory that is not acquired through the integration and consolidation of neural events in the medial temporal lobe, but rather through learned associations outside of the
Furthermore this article expands upon this subcategory of memory by describing the two types of tasks involved with it: verbal-production ta...
Farrants, J. (1998, September). The 'false' memory debate. Counseling Psychology Quarterly. Retrieved September 14, 2000 from ProQuest database (Bell & Howell Information and Learning-ProQuest) on the World Wide Web: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb
The mechanism of human memory recall is neither a parallel nor a sequential retrieval of previously learned events. Instead, it is a complex system that has elements of both sequential and parallel modalities, engaging all of the sensory faculties of the individual. On an everyday level, issues about memory and recall affect everyone. It has a bearing on ramifications from the trivial to matters of life and death. Thus, a particular student might worry about his or her ability to remember 'memorized' material, a person might worry about losing his or her mind, and, there are the more troubling issue of diseases affecting memory such as Alzheimer's disease. According to Tulving, episodic memory represents only a small part of the much larger domain of memory (Tulving, 1992, p.1). Specifically, episodic memory is the process involved in remembering past events. This paper is a review of research findings on episodic memory with specific attention to episodic memory in adults and infants.
Atkinson, R.C. & Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control process.
Wheeler, M. A., Stuss, D, t., & Tulving, D. (1997). Toward a theory of episodic memory: The frontal lobes and autonoetic consciousness: Psychological Bulletin, 121, 331-354