Lecture 3: Combining Neuropsychology and Neuroimaging to Understand Learning and Memory in Development

What are the two distinct forms of declarative memory proposed by Endel Tulving?

Episodic memory and semantic memory.

What is episodic memory?

Episodic memory involves remembering specific personal experiences and mentally reliving past events.

Which brain structure is heavily involved in episodic memory?

The hippocampus.

How does episodic memory develop over time?

Episodic memory develops slowly across childhood and may decline in older adulthood.

How does semantic memory change as one ages compared to episodic memory?

Semantic memory is relatively preserved in older age compared with episodic memory.

What is developmental amnesia (DA)?

Developmental amnesia is a rare memory disorder that occurs following early hypoxic-ischaemic injury, particularly affecting the hippocampus.

What are the characteristics of a child with developmental amnesia?

Severe episodic memory impairment, preserved semantic memory, preserved language development, and relatively normal IQ.

What happens to pattern completion ability in individuals with developmental amnesia?

They struggle to retrieve contextual experiences from partial cues and reconstruct coherent episodic memories.

What is recognition memory?

Recognition memory refers to the feeling that something has been encountered before without recollecting contextual details.

What is the Precision and Binding model?

A model suggesting that the hippocampus contributes to precise memory representations, high-resolution associative binding, and detailed recollection.

How does familiarity-based learning support semantic learning in children with developmental amnesia?

Recognition learning relies on preserved familiarity processes to support semantic memory acquisition.

What are potential educational implications for children with developmental amnesia?

Using multiple-choice testing may reduce demands on episodic recall while relying on preserved semantic and recognition abilities.