Episodic memory

Episodic memory is part of declarative long-term memory.

Structure

Episodic memory is a sub-component of the long-term memory ( LTM ). The anatomical substrates are the hippocampus, frontal lobe and temporal lobe. These structures contribute to episodic memory performance.

Based on the information to be remembered two types of declarative long-term memory can be distinguished:

Semantic memory, which reminds knowledge of facts and general aspects of the world, and episodic memory, which includes personal experiences as such. So Episodic memory allows for the retrieval of past experiences, which were formed in a given situation at a given time. It is capable of mental time travel into the past and into the future. For the Reminder, this means to find themselves as participants in a past event; for the researcher, the self-perception of those involved to explore ( Tulving, 1985).

Function

The episodic memory processes are responsible for the encoding, storage and retrieval of specific episodes with chains of events that people have experienced in their lives. These events and episodes have taken place in a particular context and this context-bound manner encoded and retrieved. In the course of development show episodic memory performance in childhood and adolescence a steep increase, remain stable over the young and middle adulthood and take ages again.

The episodic memory operations use the semantic memory of the declarative knowledge system, but go with accesses to the procedural knowledge system beyond. The retrieval of episodic memory requires a particular mental attitude which is called ' retrieval mode '. The neural components of episodic memory rely on an extensive network in the cortical and subcortical brain regions, which overlaps with the networks of other memory systems, however, goes far beyond this. The essence of episodic memory makes the connection of three concepts of the self, the autonoetischen consciousness and subjective time ( Markowitsch & Welzer, 2005).

Endel Tulving describes episodic memory as an evolutionarily late arisen, ontogenetically late -developing and early degrading memory system. It is intrinsically vulnerable against neuronal dysfunction than other memory systems and its complexity probably just the people. " It allows mental time travel through subjective time -. Past, Present, Future This mental time travel allows the " owner " of episodic memory ( the 'self' ), through the medium of autonoetischen consciousness his own previous " imaginary " to remember experiences, to think as well about possible future experience " ( Tulving, 2005, translated by Markowitsch & Welzer, 2005).

According to Conway (2001), the original concept of Tulving should be revised: Conway episodic memory is a system that has recently experienced experiences and events experience suggests very context specific and detailed sensory perceptions. These experiences remain only for short periods of time are liable (minutes or hours). You will only remain permanently in memory when they are coupled with autobiographical content.

Recall and cueing

What we remember from the episodic memory, basically depends on which cues ( cues ) are available just in the perceived environment or in working memory (eg, Tulving & Pearlstone, 1966). There are two types of episodic cues: Feature cues ( Note by properties) and context cues ( cues from the environment ). Feature cues include components from memory looking for. In contrast to feature cues to context cues relate to aspects of the context that defined the framework for the encoding. It can be external (for example, lighting, persons present ) and internal contexts are distinguished (for example, emotions or thoughts). The best context cue is oneself: Can information on aspects of the self are related, the memory is better than if information with aspects of other people or objects are related. The cues turn out to be elements of a dynamic car speakers and perception- dependent Triggersysystems. Car Speaker: Episodes trigger episodes and solve association cascades. Currently experienced episodes and experiences of the past do not obey the linear chronology. Ordering function has the emotional hierarchy of experiences, with the scale of casual emotionally charged episodes extends to biographical key experiences. Depending perception: Music is a potent catalyst in the resuscitation of past episodes, for example, a current rezipierter hit of the past provokes a nostalgic journey. Odors also have a catalytic function in the trigger system. Secondary, not himself experienced episodes rezipiert at reading of fiction, do not find their way into episodic memory. However, readers prefer novels with affinities to his own biography, whose episodes have trigger function.

Context-dependence

An episodic memory trace of an event consists of the information about the participating known things and people, which is stored in semantic memory, and the context information, which is stored in episodic memory. For example, you remember what foods you have written on the shopping list, one has unfortunately forgotten at home. The individual words ( for example, " garlic, wine, detergents" ) and their significance are known to us for a long time, they are represented in semantic memory. Episodic memory stores the fact that we have seen these words in a particular context (on the morning written shopping list ) in a specific order. These usually come other contextual features, such as the space in which the list was written, the experience of writing up, the cognitive processes when planning for procurement, etc.

Enkodierungsspezifität refers to the fact that memories can be retrieved from the episodic memory most easily if the circumstances of the request are similar to those of Enkodierens. Enkodierspezifität often refers to external contexts (for example, a space ). Internal contexts can also promote the reminder when they are similar in a search when encoding. These include the state-dependent memory (State - Dependent Memory) and the mood-congruent memory ( Mood - Congruent Memory). For example, the memory be better from the nicotine effect if the person in learning in the same condition was or someone remembers better at something he has learned when he was happy when he is happy again.

Context dependency of memory means that new material is more easily remembered, though the details of the circumstances surrounding the learning situation are restored when you call. For example, if you going for a walk was a good idea and she has forgotten later, you go off at the pass again and remembers back to the idea. Context dependency is a reason that it does not make sense to learn in a noisy environment ( for example, radio), if one is being tested in a quiet room.

Representation levels

The contents of episodic memory is a mixture of many different types of information. These various components can be used as a complete system or as separate parts. So when we experience something, we remember not directly, but we process on several levels. Thus, the memory of a text, for example, three representation levels: surface shape corresponds to the literal text, text base is the abstract representation of the text and the mental model is more representative of the mental simulation of the event described as the text itself (van Dijk & Kintsch, 1983). Studies ( Kintsch, Welsch, Schmalhofer & Zimny ​​, 1990) have shown that memory for the surface form of the fastest and the memory of the abstract text base decays less rapidly ( but again this is done with the time), while the reminder for the mental model is relatively durable and shows no major changes. So when we read a newspaper, we quickly forget the exact words in the article, but the basic idea is we remember still for a long time. The memory of the described situation as such, however, that is what the article actually acted holds on much longer, and that's what we can still remember even after a relatively long time.

Autobiographical memory

Frequently episodic memory autobiographical memory is allocated. Under the autobiographical memory, the memory of one's own life story is understood. It is controversial whether episodic and autobiographical memory are identical. Endel Tulving and Hans Markowitsch see the episodic and autobiographical memory to be largely congruent. Only of course there are autobiographical data that are not remembered as Episodes: own birth (Birthday), place of birth, etc. The term " episodic - autobiographical memory " has Hans Markowitsch to this multi-layered way.