Declarative (explicit) memory is a type of memory that is encoded by our hippocampus, entorhinal cortex and perirhinal cortex but is stored in our temporal cortex. The declarative memory has two parts to it; episodic and semantic memory. The semantic memory is the act of remembering general facts or things from a young age. Episodic memory is more aimed towards personal facts. These personal facts are more based off of where we were at the time, who was there, the smell, or other senses we can recall from the specific time or place. An example of semantic memory would be recognizing that the grass is green or that the first President of the US was George Washington. These facts are not based off of personal experiences but they are based off of common knowledge which was stored into our long term memory. An example of episodic memory would be remembering move in day at college or your 16th birthday. A personal experience that I can talk about that relates to episodic memory would be the first day I moved into a dorm at Penn State. I can vividly remember the pit in my stomach the morning of, the smell of my last NJ bagel, the feel of the warm, damp, dorm room and the sight of the dark, boring, prison like dorm room walls. Even though this memory of mine was not common knowledge and was not stored into my brain at a young age, it is so vivid in my memory because it was so distinct, personal and the senses that I felt during this experience stored this memory for me. A personal experience of semantic memory for me would be remembering PEMDAS in my math class this week. Although, I have not used PEMDAS since early high school, I was able to recall that information instantly because it was stored in my brain from my teacher. I was able to think back to my teacher teaching it to us and it just instantly clicking because I had learned it and practiced it so much that it was programmed for me. Memory is a very interesting gift that us, humans are fortunate enough to have everyday. Being able to recall personal memories is a very sentimental thing that we can do while recalling general facts and common sense helps us live on a day to day basis.
Work Cited
“Declarative Memory & Procedural Memory: Explicit & Implicit.” The Human Memory, 27 Sept. 2019, human-memory.net/explicit-implicit-memory/.