Rumination on Memory and Emotion, Part 1: Types of Memory
Memory is an emotional process that greatly informs and inspires my current work. This semester I completed my senior thesis about memory and emotion. Fascinated by the topic, I will be sharing what I learned through my research, in digestible blog-style posts with some slight alterations and additions to the original essay.
“Memory is not the content of experience, but the manner in which that content is experienced.” (Klein 1) Using research on the interrelationship between psychology and brain function, I will investigate the integrity of memory. My writings will consider the influence of emotion in the creation, maintenance, and recollection of memories, as well as the relationship between memory and emotion in instances when they are not functioning concurrently. Since memories are heavily reliant on emotion, and emotions are informed by our memories, I will reflect on how our memories are malleable and may not be as stable as we trust them to be.
When generally defining memory, most academics agree that memory requires an initial act of experiencing (encoding), neural alteration in the brain (storing), and recollection that is linked to change in a person’s mental and/or physical behavior.
Types of memory (Image from Queensland Brain Institute)
Humans have short-term memory and long-term memory. The Queensland Brain Institute explains that long-term memory can be broken down into two categories: explicit, which refers to conscious memories, and implicit, which refers to unconscious memories.
Beginning with explicit memory, the two types of memories that it pertains to are episodic (autobiographical; events that happened to you) and semantic (general knowledge of facts and information). As for implicit, the two categories are priming (exposure to one stimulus influences the brain’s response to a later stimulus without conscious intention or guidance. For example, the word “nurse” is recognized quicker when it follows the word “doctor” than it is following the word “bread”) and procedural (learned motor skills. For example, playing an instrument or riding a bicycle). (University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, 2003, unpaginated, unauthored).
—
“APA Dictionary of Psychology.” American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association. Accessed December 6, 2021. https://dictionary.apa.org/.
“Types of Memory.” University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, November 20, 2019. https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain-basics/memory/types-memory.
Klein, Stanley B. “What Memory Is.” WIREs Cognitive Science 6, no. 1 (2014): 1–38. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1333.