The Hierarchy of Memory Systems
- This leads to a hiearchy of memory.
- At the base are Semantic memories. They take a long time to form,
are essential to other types of memories, and are hard to forget.
- (Perhaps they are not directly accessible by conscious routines.)
- Above this are Episodic memories. These are quick to form, but can
be forgotten. However, if they are particularly salient (due to emotion,
importance, or reactivation), they can persist for years.
- Above these are variable bindings. They form very rapidly, but are also
quickly forgotten.
- There is no reason that other forms of memory can not fit into this
system.
- Memories have to get to the quickly learned systems on top before
they can get to the slow permanent systems below.
