Semantic memory

Semantic memory refers to general world <a href="/facts/Knowledge/joozoaup">knowledge</a> that humans have accumulated throughout their lives. This <a href="/facts/General_knowledge/3RQG8QMJ">general knowledge</a> (<a href="/facts/Semantics/1L4WwLAP">word meanings</a>, <a href="/facts/Concept/VWB6yhQp">concepts</a>, facts, and ideas) is intertwined in experience and dependent on <a href="/facts/Culture/c5JgMqpX">culture</a>. New concepts are learned by applying knowledge learned from things in the past.
Semantic memory is distinct from <a href="/facts/Episodic_memory/1QIEM9gQ">episodic memory</a>—the memory of experiences and specific events that occur in one's life that can be recreated at any given point. For instance, semantic memory might contain information about what a cat is, whereas episodic memory might contain a specific memory of stroking a particular cat.
Semantic memory and episodic memory are both types of <a href="/facts/Explicit_memory/vrjuSCDG">explicit memory (or declarative memory)</a>, or memory of facts or events that can be consciously recalled and "declared". The counterpart to declarative or explicit memory is <a href="/facts/Implicit_memory/s3FkGcTr">implicit memory</a> (also known as nondeclarative memory).

Semantic memory open-in-new

Semantic memory