Types
Episodic memory, a part of autobiographical memory, consists of the recollection of events in the life of a person. These can be memories that happened to the person directly or just memories of events that happened around them. Simply put, it is the memory of life experiences centered on oneself. Episodic memory is necessary for "time traveling": remembering your past. Episodic memory does not have any direct effect on how one imagines their future. It is considered a uniquely human quality that depends on maturation and therefore not to be found in babies and young children. For children, recollection of these memories can also be hindered by traumatic events that occur during childhood.
Semantic memory consists of all explicit memory that is not autobiographical. Examples of semantic memory is knowledge of historical events and figures; the ability to recognize friends and acquaintances; and information learned in school, such as specialized vocabularies and reading, writing and mathematics.
The neural basis of episodic and semantic memory is not yet known today. However, the scientists E. Tulving and R.F. Thompson suggest that episodic memory might be dependent on the right hemisphere, and semantic memory on the left hemisphere.
Read more about this topic: Explicit Memory
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