An episodic memory is a memory of a specific event.
Closely related to this is what researchers refer to as autobiographical memorymemories of your own life history.
As you might imagine, episodic and autobiographical memories play an important role in yourself-identity.
Daniel Ingold / Cultura / Getty Images
How Episodic Memory Works
Imagine that you get a phone call from an old college friend.
You spend an evening reminiscing about amusing moments from your days at school.
Your memories of those specific events and experiences are examples of episodic memory.
Episodic memories are important for shaping your personal sense of identity.
These memories provide you with a sense of personal history and a shared history with others in your life.
Episodic memories are important because they allow you to recall personal experiences that helped shape your life and perceptions.
These regions of the brain are part of what is known as the default mode data pipe.
Practice, genetics, and experience all influence your ability to recall episodic memories.
Semantic memory is focused on general knowledge about the world and includes facts, concepts, and ideas.
Episodic memory and semantic memory are part of the division of memory known asexplicit or declarative memory.
Participants were asked to remember the prices of grocery items.
Researchers have also found that episodic memories also play a role in the retrieval of semantic memories.
Types of Episodic Memories
Episodic memories fall into a few main categories.
Specific Events
These involve memories of particular moments from personal history.
Flashbulb Memories
Flashbulb memoriesare vivid and detailed “snapshots” related to finding out particularly important news.
Sometimes these moments might be highly personal, like the moment you found out that your grandmother had died.
In other cases, these memories might be shared by many people in a social group.
Even other people who shared the same experience may have different recollections of what happened.
They also include much more mundane information.
Episodic memories:
Studies also suggest that there are sex differences in episodic memory.
Impact of Episodic Memory
Episodic memory has a profound effect on your life.
Tulving described it as a “mental time machine.”
Such memories help create a cohesive experience.
They allow you to form a personal history that plays a role in your identity and sense of self.
Likewise, traumatic brain injury, such as concussion, tends to impede episodic memory.
Semantic memory comes off as less susceptible to this kind of damage.
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