Self And The Phenomenon Of Life: A Biologist Examines Life From Molecules To Humanity

Self and Memory 213

“9x6” b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity

Fig. 10.3. Diagram of connections among the hippocampal components. See preceding
figure for anatomical locations.

Table 10.1. Types of Memory According to Content

A. Declarative (explicit; requires conscious learning and recall; hippocampus-

dependent)

1. Episodic: With time/place reference (specific incidents)


2. Semantic: Without time/place reference (general facts)


3. Mixed: Many memories are a mixture of both. Biographical self depends on
   episodic memory for accuracy, but it also has semantic components.
   B. Non-declarative (implicit; procedural; skill acquisition; learning may or may
   not need conscious effort; retrieval may be subconscious or minimally conscious;
   hippocampus-independent)


4. Associative: Depends on correlation between two stimuli: conditioned stimulus (CS)
   and unconditioned stimulus (US). Prime example is simple classical conditioning
   of Pavlov. Operant conditioning (Skinner Box) is a variant in which conscious
   participation is needed.


5. Non-associative: Priming; motor training or skill acquisition (e.g. riding a bicycle);
   habituation; sensitization or desensitization.
   Note: “Priming” is a type of learning in which a prior single exposure to a stimulus facilitates
   subsequent learning with respect to the same stimulus. It works at the perceptual level. (See
   Note 46.) A standard way to test “priming” is to provide a subject with a certain nonsense word.
   Subsequent presentation of a panel of nonsense words will show that the subject is more likely to
   pick up the one he has been exposed to.