Semantic Memory Analysis

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Meaningful Memory of Facts and Concepts From a young age, people begin to develop knowledge of the features that are important to them, and organize them into separate categories. This is known as semantic memory organization. Semantic memory organization is defined as the type of memory in which we store facts and general knowledge and concepts. Knowing that the grass is green or that the sky is blue is an example of semantic memory. Although remembering specific details about certain events or objects are important, semantic memory allows individuals to remember the general facts, setting aside the specific details in order to gather and store information from multiple sources (Reisberg, 2016, p. 308). There are three assumptions made about the organization of semantic memory. The first assumption is that within semantic memory, information is stored in categories. For example, different types of shoes go into the shoe category, different types of clothing go into the clothes category, and so on and so forth. The second assumption …show more content…
With lower semantic distance levels, information becomes more generic and easier to store. Higher semantic distance levels can relate to information that requires more specific details. Generic information is more easily verified than information that requires specific details (Reisberg, ch. 9).
The retrieval process, which is also seen on the online ZAPS sentence verification task, is similar to syllogism, a form of logical deduction. In syllogism, two concepts are given, one generic and one specific, followed by a conclusion. For example, "dogs have four legs" is a generic statement. It is then followed by "Baxter is a dog", a more specific statement. It is then concluded that "Baxter has four legs". Humans do not only recall facts, but they are able to put facts together in a logical