semantic memory

memory for general factual knowledge and concepts, of the kind that endows information with meaning and ultimately allows people to engage in such complex cognitive processes as recognizing objects and using language. Impairments of semantic memory may be seen following brain injury as well as in certain neurological disorders, particularly dementia. For instance, people with Alzheimer’s disease often find it increasingly difficult to categorize and name items (i.e., to refer to an apple as an apple) as their memory deficits worsen. Semantic memory is considered by many theorists to be one of the two forms of declarative memory, the other being episodic memory. [defined in 1972 by Endel Tulving]

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

January 18th 2025

repression

1. in classical psychoanalytic theory and other forms of depth psychology, the basic defense mechanism that excludes painful experiences and unacceptable impulses from consciousness. Repression operates on an unconscious level as a protection against anxiety produced by objectionable sexual wishes, feelings of hostility, and ego-threatening experiences and memories of all kinds. It also comes into play in many other forms of defense, as in denial, in which individuals avoid unpleasant realities by first trying to repress them and then negating them when repression fails. See primary repression; repression proper.

2. the oppression or exclusion of individuals or groups through limitations on their personal rights and liberties.

3. more generally, the process of restricting, restraining, or subduing something or someone. Compare suppression. —repress vb.