Acquiring and later deploying semantic knowledge in service of behavior relies on the coordinated function of distributed cortical and hippocampal circuitry. Like episodic memory, semantic memory is also a type of ‘declarative’ (explicit, consciously recalled) memory. Examples of semantic memory range from knowledge of words and their meanings, all kinds of concepts, general schemas, or scripts that organize knowledge, and also specific facts about the world, such as the capital of France or famous battles in World War II. In other words, we are only at the very beginnings of our exploration of the neural basis for semantic memory, quite analogous to the European voyagers of the fifteenth century. This includes facts about the perceptual features (e.g., shape, color) and functional features (e.g., intended use of an implement, inherent activity of a beast of burden) associated with objects. (1997) is that episodic memory depends on various cortical and subcortical networks in which the prefrontal cortex plays a central role. In this talk I describe the overall framework briefly and discuss its implications of procedural, semantic, and episodic memory. Unlike episodic memories, semantic memories lack information about the context of learning, including situational properties like time and place, and personal dimensions like how we felt at the time the event was experienced. Indeed, comparisons in the response times for items that are semantically related versus unrelated to current or previously encountered stimuli have inspired and helped to distinguish among competing theories of how knowledge is mentally represented and accessed (e.g., Collins and Quillian, 1969; Meyer and Schvaneveldt, 1971; Collins and Loftus, 1975; Neely, 1977). Nevertheless, once acquired, is that knowledge base stable and independent of experiential memories? Semantic memory refers to a portion of long-term memory that processes ideas and concepts that are not drawn from personal experience. First, there is a distributed account, in which the information in semantic memory is represented in a diffuse fashion throughout the superficial cortical gray matter of the brain. ‘Semantic memory’ refers to a major division of long-term memory that includes knowledge of facts, events, ideas, and concepts. However, before discussing those patients, we first discuss studies of semantic memory in patients with profound amnesias resulting from damage to the medial temporal lobes. H.E. A narrow focus on, Anne-Lise Pitel, ... Helene Beaunieux, in, Hassabis et al., 2007; Schacter and Addis, 2007, Hodges and Graham, 2001; Simons et al., 2002, The Hub-and-Spoke Hypothesis of Semantic Memory, Karalyn Patterson, Matthew A. Lambon Ralph, in, Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference (Second Edition). Semantic memory/conceptual knowledge is central to much of human life. ScienceDirect ® is a registered trademark of Elsevier B.V. ScienceDirect ® is a registered trademark of Elsevier B.V. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123705099001704, URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123750006003153, URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780080450469007865, URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128196410000372, URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0122272102003095, URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780444626196000136, URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978012370509900108X, URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124077942000614, URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128093245210031, URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128093245210730, Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference, Encyclopedia of Human Behavior (Second Edition), Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology, ), reinforcing the notion of a functional interrelationship between semantic and episodic memory. Endel Tulving in 1972 (building upon a distinction between two primary forms of memory by Reiff and Scheers in 1959) distinguished between semantic and episodic memory. Imaging tools such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are available for directly studying the neural substrate of cognitive processes involved in semantic memory in vivo. Evidence from braindamaged patients and from PET scans has been obtained to test this assumption. Semantic memory is conscious long-term memory for meaning, understanding, and conceptual facts about the world. For example, using semantic memory, you know what a dog is and can read the word ‘dog’ and be aware of the meaning of this concept, but you do not remember where and when you first learned about a dog or even necessarily subsequent personal experiences with dogs that went into building your concept of what a dog is. Semantic memory is the cognitive system devoted to storage and retrieval of conceptual knowl-edge. The fact that a stable solution to a concept has been achieved is equivalent to the process of retrieving a concept. Both patients groups recalled fewer words and figure components and showed lower Semantic Clustering compared to controls. Maybe the proposal of a semantic hub will be here today and gone tomorrow. Memory systems constitute the major subdivi- sions of the overall organization of the memory complex. The few investigations of semantic memory conducted in alcoholics examined ability to acquire new semantic concepts. Storage or remembering of information : Information from short-term memory is stored in long-term memory by rehearsal. Semantic memory can be distinguished from episodic/autobiographical memory by an absence of temporal and spatial details about the context of learning. Knowing and, indeed, being able to visually recognize objects like cereal, toast, and newspaper, as well as understanding the words you are now reading, is dependent on semantic memory. In a hierarchical network model, for example, access to each lower-level item depends on the higher-order category (e.g., robin – bird). This process can be optimized in a number of ways. are efficient. A huge amount has been learned about this central aspect of human function in the relatively short time in which cognitive neuroscientists have been addressing it in their experimental work and theorizing, but there is so far to go that future models of the organization and neural basis of semantic memory may look like “objects” that we have never encountered before. We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content and ads. For example, we must be able to organize this vast array of knowledge for it to be used in a rapid and coherent fashion during thought and communication. We have examined in this section, a number ofways in which the organization of semantic memory is conceptualized. The study of semantic representations is complicated by difficulty in disentangling perceptual and semantic influences on neural activity, as well as in identifying stimulus-driven, “bottom-up” semantic selectivity unconfounded by top-down task-related modulations. He was mainly influenced by the ideas of Reiff and Scheers, who in 1959 made the distinction between two primary forms of memory. Nielsen further noted that there were different varieties of categorical amnesias, including amnesias for animate objects and amnesias for inanimate objects (Nielsen, 1946, 1958), presaging a distinction that is prominently highlighted later in this chapter. We have learned about the temporal characteristics of thought from cognitive event-related potential (ERP) studies. The neural substrates of semantic representation have been the subject of much controversy. The semantic networks theory contends memory is organized in a network of interconnected concepts and certain triggers activate associated memories. In addition to tests of explicit and implicit memory, a variety of cognitive tasks are designed to measure the contents and organization of semantic memory. Everyday expe-rience shows that word search and retrieval processes provide fluent and coherent speech, i.e. For example, individuals are faster and more accurate at judging that doctor is a word if it is was preceded by a related word (nurse) relative to an unrelated word (shoe). Neurons (or nerve cells) are individual cells that make up the entirety of the nervous system. Properties/features are associated with each concept. In fact, rather than arising as an independent evolutionary development, it is commonly assumed that episodic memory emerged as an add-on or embellishment to semantic memory (Tulving, 2002). This chapter provides a general overview of both theory development and empirical research investigating the nature of semantic memory. Because semantic memory is organized according to relatedness, and because this sort of basic information has been acquired a long time ago, this simple test is quite a good way to test semantic knowledge. However, the conscious recall here is of facts that have meaning, as opposed to the recall of past life events associated with episodic memory. SUMMARY. -concepts are organized hierarchically with specific concepts nested within more general ones-semantic memory consists or subordinate, basic, and superordinate levels of concepts (nodes)-features are associated with each concept In semantic memory, the brain stores information about words, what they look like and represent, and how they are used in an organized way. We provide reviews of such issues as hierarchical network models, feature-based models, recent attempts to ground semantics in large-scale databases, embodied cognition, and graph theoretical approaches. Semantic memory refers to the enormous storehouse of information that humans have readily accessible. Examples include knowing how many feet are in a mile, what colors make up the rainbow, and even the vocabulary to complete a crossword puzzle. One type, which he termed temporal amnesia, was defined by a loss of memory for personal experiences. (2002) , Tyler and Moss (2001) have noted that the precise locations of the category-specific activations are not entirely consistent across studies, and frequently do not converge with the brain-damage deficit data. Henry L. RoedigerIII, ... Wenbo Lin, in Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference (Second Edition), 2017. Consider the following demonstration suggested by Matlin (1994). The second key element of semantic memory involves the processes required to implement the contribution of semantic knowledge in our thoughts and actions. sequences that we use to interpret situations and as a basis for action. Semantic memory refers to our memory of facts and information. In relation to episodic memory, semantic memory is considered to be both a phylogenically and an ontologically older system. Balota, J.H. For example, we make inferences about our world that are not readily apparent from the superficial appearance and function of an object, and we often acquire new knowledge on the basis of its relationship to established knowledge. It is now also known that semantic memory can be divided into separate visual categories such as size, color, and motion. Studies of subhuman species have monitored neuronal activity directly with implanted electrodes, but comparable electrical studies in humans (as a prelude to the surgical management of intractable epilepsy) generally involve relatively primitive extracellular monitoring under highly restricted circumstances. However, Devlin et al. Although many animals, especially mammals and birds, acquire information about the world, they are assumed to lack the neural machinery to consciously recollect detailed episodes of their past. Some of these features are relatively necessary components of a concept (e.g., apples grow on trees), whereas others are characteristically associated with a concept even if they are not necessary (e.g., many apples are red). of semantic memory because it cannot handle a variety of problems which appear to originate from a rigidly hierarchically organized knowledge base. to Topics. Semantic memory is a cognitive ability possible due to neural connections in the brain. These networks are loosely connected conceptual hierarchies linked together by associations to other concepts. The key theoretical assumption made by Wheeler et al. Semantic memory is distinct from episodic memory, which is our memory of experiences and specific events that occur during our lives, from which we can recreate at … Empirical data indicate that semantic memory is organized in a network structure. Murray Grossman, Phyllis L. Koenig, in Encyclopedia of the Human Brain, 2002. Thus, semantic memory covers a vast cognitive terrain, ranging from information about historical and scientific facts, to details of public events and mathematical equations, to the information that allows us to identify objects and understand the meaning of words. Back to Cognitive Psych Home page Back Semantic memory is organized throughout the brain. Although many animals, especially mammals and birds, acquire information about the world, they are assumed to lack the neural machinery to consciously recollect detailed episodes of their past. These networks are loosely connected conceptual hierarchies linked together by associations to other concepts. a situation. Our semantic memory consists of knowledge about the world, including concepts, facts, and beliefs. Each concept can be represented as a node. Semantic memory refers to general world knowledge that we have accumulated throughout our lives. Of course, this is a vast store of information. Rather than focusing on one or two theoretical approaches, we attempt to provide an overview of multiple ways of conceptualizing semantics to capture the rich theoretical perspectives that have developed in this literature. (2011) studied remote semantic memory for a specific kind of information (related to presidential elections from 1928 to 2004) and found preserved performance on that task in alcoholics. Semantic memory has had a comeback in interest in the past 15 years, due in part to the development of functional neuroimaging methods such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which have been used to address some of the central questions about our understanding of semantic memory. That semantic and episodic memory may break down differentially in patients with brain disease argues persuasively for the value of the distinction between semantic and episodic memory. Complex knowledge in semantic memory may be represented in the massively interconnected nature of neural elements bearing these microscopic changes. Each concept is represented by a NODE or a location in the network and there are LINKS or associations which connect NODES. Semantic structure was more disorganized in the bipolar I disorder group compared to the bipolar II disorder. Semantic Memory Organization. One of the most powerful tools for studying semantic memory is the word-priming technique in which individuals are asked to make lexical decisions (word–nonword decisions) for pairs of stimuli that might be semantically related or unrelated. A semantic network is comprised of an assortment of nodes. existence of memory systems (e.g., Tulving, 1984a)-- is preferable because it points to stronger tests of such existence. Semantic memory is a sub-topic in psychology regarding the ability to remember knowledge and facts. Semantic memory is a netlike organization of concepts in memory with many interconnections. 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