Memory: Episodic and Semantic Memories

What are episodic memories and semantic memories?

Episodic memories and semantic memories are both examples of what type of memory?

Final answer:

Episodic and semantic memories fall under the category of declarative memory, a type of long-term memory dealing with facts and events that can be consciously recalled.

Episodic memories and semantic memories are both examples of declarative memory. This type of memory is a component of the long-term memory that deals with facts and events that we consciously recollect.

Episodic memory is responsible for our autobiographical events. These are personal experiences that happened at a specific time and place. An example would be the memory of celebrating your last birthday.

Semantic memory, on the other hand, is our storehouse of facts and knowledge which can be declared. These could include general facts such as the first African American president of the United States.

Both semantic and episodic memories require effortful processing and elaborate rehearsal for encoding them into our memory system, making them parts of what is known as explicit memory because they can be consciously brought into awareness and articulated.