What is it about?
Understanding human memory requires that we draw boundaries between different forms of memory and identify how different forms of memory work together in any given memory test. For example, are our memories of facts, semantic memories, different from our memories of events, episodic memories? We developed a new computer model, in which both forms of memory are distinct, but yet interdependent. We find in our model that the quality of the semantic representation affects the accuracy of episodic memory.
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Why is it important?
It is unlikely that an experiment could ever study a single memory system in isolation, let alone a complex one such as episodic memory. However, in computational models, we can clearly define separate memory systems and their interactions. We can then observe how the memory systems interact and make predictions that can be tested in experiments.
Perspectives
I like how the model behaves in complex and surprising ways, even though it is built from very simple components. While many regard simple models as unrealistic, models are not meant to describe every detail of the modelled system. Their simplicity is an advantage since it makes the assumptions clear and allows us to gain insights into what goes on in the system.
Sen Cheng
Ruhr-Universitat Bochum
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Interaction between Semantic Representation and Episodic Memory, Neural Computation, February 2018, The MIT Press,
DOI: 10.1162/neco_a_01044.
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