Declarative Memory Essay

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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

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