Rethinking the distinction between episodic and semantic memory: Insights from the past, present, and future.

On the 50th anniversary of Tulving's introduction of the celebrated distinction between episodic and semantic memory, it seems more than fitting to revisit his proposal in light of recent conceptual and methodological advances in the field. This Special Issue of Memory & Cognition brings together researchers doing cutting-edge work at the intersection between episodic and semantic memory to showcase studies directly probing this psychological distinction, as well as articles that seek to provide conceptual and theoretical accounts to understand their interaction. The 14 articles presented here highlight the need to critically examine the way in which we conceptualize not only the relationship between episodic and semantic memory, but also the interplay between declarative and non-declarative memory, and the myriad implications of such conceptual changes. In many ways, we suggest this Special Issue might serve as a call to action for our field, inspiring future work to challenge pre-existing conceptions and stimulate new directions in this fast-moving field.

De Brigard F ，Umanath S ，Irish M 《-》

An historical perspective on Endel Tulving's episodic-semantic distinction.

The distinction between episodic and semantic memory, proposed by Endel Tulving in 1972, remains a key concept in contemporary Cognitive Neuroscience. Here we review how this distinction evolved in Tulving's writings over the years. Crucially, from 1972 onward, he argued that the two forms of memory were inter-dependent and that their interaction was an essential feature of normal episodic memory function. Moreover, later elaborations of the theory clearly proposed that these interactions formed the basis of normal declarative memory functioning. A later but crucial aspect of Tulving's contribution was his stress on the importance of subjective experience, which, according to him, "should be the ultimate object of interest, the central aspect of remembering that is to be explained and understood". We relate these and his numerous other ideas to current perspectives about the organization and function of human memory.

Renoult L ，Rugg MD 《-》

Beyond the episodic-semantic continuum: the multidimensional model of mental representations.

Addis DR ，Szpunar KK 《-》

A conceptual space for episodic and semantic memory.

I propose a model that places episodic, semantic, and other commonly studied forms of memory into the same conceptual space. The space is defined by three dimensions required for Tulving's episodic and semantic memory. An implicit-explicit dimension contrasts both episodic and semantic memory with common forms of implicit memory. A self-reference dimension contrasts episodes that occurred to one person with semantic knowledge. A scene dimension contrasts episodes that occurred in specific contexts with context-free semantic information. The three dimensions are evaluated against existing behavioral and neural evidence to evaluate both the model and the concepts underlying the study of human memory. Unlike a hierarchy, which has properties specific to each category, the dimensions have properties that extend throughout the conceptual space. Thus, the properties apply to all forms of existing and yet-to-be-discovered memory within the space. Empty locations in the proposed space are filled with existing phenomena that lack a clear place in current theories of memory, including reports of episodic-like memories for events reported to but not witnessed by a person, fictional narrative accounts, déjà vu, and implicit components contributing to personality, the self, and autobiographical memory.

Rubin DC 《-》

Transitional gradation and the distinction between episodic and semantic memory.

Gentry H ，Buckner C 《-》