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What Came First: Episodic or Semantic Memory?

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Ever wonder how your brain remembers stuff? Like knowing that Paris is the capital of France, or remembering the time you tripped at your birthday party? These two types of memories are called semantic and episodic . But here’s a fun question: W hat came first? It turns out, scientists and brain researchers have been puzzling over this for a long time. A fascinating paper by Greenberg and Verfaellie (2010) explores this question in detail- and while it doesn’t give one final answer, it shares some cool insights that help us better understand how memory works. Two Kinds of Memory, Two Different Jobs Let’s break it down: Semantic memory is your general knowledge about the world. Like knowing what a microwave does or the names of colors. Episodic memory is your memory for personal events. Like that one time you had a surprise party. Tulving’s SPI Model: Semantic Comes First? One idea, called the SPI model , says that information goes through three steps: First, you see ...
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Episodic vs. Semantic Memory: Your Brain’s Diary and Dictionary

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Ever wonder how you can remember your last birthday party and also know that Paris is the capital of France- even if you’ve never been there? That’s because your brain stores different types of memories in different ways. Welcome to the world of episodic and semantic memory!                                                            Source- web.colby.edu cogblog šŸ“– What Is Episodic Memory? Episodic memory is like your brain’s personal diary . It holds memories of specific events from your life- things you experienced firsthand. šŸŽ‰ Your best friend’s wedding šŸ° The taste of your 18th birthday cake šŸž️ That one time you got lost hiking These memories are tied to a time and place-  you can "mentally time travel" and re-experience them. šŸ§  Key feature: “I remember when…” šŸ“š What Is Semantic Memory? Sema...
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Hippocampal Replay: How the Brain Remembers and Plans

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Ever had a memory suddenly pop into your head while resting or drifting off to sleep- like a mini movie of your day? That’s a glimpse of what your brain might be doing behind the scenes through something called hippocampal replay . This process helps your brain learn from the past and even prepare for the future . Let’s explore how it works in simple terms. šŸ§  What Is Hippocampal Replay? There’s a small but mighty part of your brain called the hippocampus (shaped like a seahorse!) that helps you remember things , especially events and places. Scientists found that during sleep or rest , your brain can "replay" past experiences by re-firing brain cells in the same pattern as when you lived through them. It’s like your brain is pressing "rewind" and watching parts of your day again- but much faster. šŸ€ How did we discover this? In studies with rats running through mazes, special brain cells called place cells lit up in a certain order as the rat moved. Later...
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"The Art of Telling Things Apart: Understanding Discrimination"

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Have you ever wondered why your dog can recognize the sound of your car from a street full of passing vehicles? Or why you can instantly tell your phone’s notification sound from someone else’s? This amazing skill is called discrimination-  the brain’s way of sorting out what’s important from all the noise around us! What is Discrimination?                                                                                                     Source- M1 psychology In behavioral psychology, discrimination isn’t about unfair treatment- it’s about learning to react differently to similar things. It’s like a mental filter that helps us know when to respond and when to ignore. For example, ima...
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"From Bell to Doorbell: How Generalization Shapes Our Reactions"

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Imagine you’re learning to ride a bicycle. At first, you might practice on a particular bike- let’s say it’s red with big tires. Once you get good at balancing, pedaling, and steering, you can ride any bike-whether it’s blue, small, or even a mountain bike. This ability to apply what you learned from one bike to many different types is called generalization .                                                 Source-wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Generalization_process_using_trees.svg What Exactly is Generalization? Generalization happens when something you learn in one situation helps you handle similar situations. It’s like making shortcuts in your brain so you don’t have to learn from scratch every time. This process is super helpful because life throws lots of similar situations at us. Let’s look at a example: Imagine a dog trained to drool when it hears a bell beca...
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Dishabituation: Your Brain’s Reset Button!

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                                                                                              Source- MedCat Imagine you're binge-watching your favorite show while snacking on chips. At first, every crunch is loud and clear, but after a while, you stop noticing the sound- you’re too absorbed in the drama. That’s habituation ! Now, suddenly, your mom bursts into the room yelling, "Why are you eating so loudly?!" šŸ˜¤ The moment she says that, you become super aware of the crunching again! That’s dishabituation-  your brain had tuned out the sound, but a sudden interruption made you notice it again. What’s Happening? Dishabituation is your brai...
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"Operant Conditioning: Why We Do Things (and Avoid Others!)"

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                                                                                                                Source- Verywellmind Operant conditioning is just a fancy way of saying: “Do good things, get rewards. Do bad things, get in trouble.” We humans (and even animals) learn based on what happens after we do something. This idea was developed by B.F. Skinner , a guy who basically trained pigeons to play ping pong (yes, really!) using rewards and punishments. How Does It Work? Imagine you have a dog. You want it to sit, so every time it does, you give it a treat. The dog thinks, “Oh wow, sitting = yummy treats!” and sits more often. Now, if the dog j...
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