Long-Term Memory
After memories pass through the short-term memory and are retrieved and rehearsed, the memory will go into the long-term storage. Once memories are in the long-term memory, they can be kept there for as little as a few days or for decades at a time. At this point the process is subconscious, we don’t realize that we are still processing the information that was learned earlier. Also, at this stage the memory can be forgotten for a few reasons. However, if the object remembered is used often it will remain a memory for longer than something that isn’t repeated.
Semantic and Episodic Memory Long-Term Memory can be split into two parts: Semantic and Episodic Memory. These two terms categorize how the memory is stored. Semantic Memory refers to a record of knowledge that can be recalled, like vocabulary, facts, concepts etc. However Episodic Memory makes a person mentally go back to the event remembered and re-experience it. This can only occur for events someone has experienced themselves, not heard of from others. In this case the memory is very vivid and includes emotions and details that help to create the memory. A memory always starts off as episodic. For example when you first learned about how to do multiplication you didn’t only remember how to do the problems but you also remembered where you were when you learned it and what you were feeling at that time. However now when you use multiplication you don’t recall all the details about how you learned it you simply just use your knowledge. This means that that memory has lost the details and has become a semantic memory, where only the knowledge is necessary. |