Episodic memory

Having looked at the structure of the first component of declarative memory i.e., semantic memory, explaining how knowledge is represented and organized there, this section will

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explore the second component of declarative memory i.e., episodic memory. Although it may seem that episodic memory is not relevant to Quran memorizers, they undertake their

memorization in the same location, using the same book, and in the same learning conditions, for the same purpose, day after day. Is it possible that this provides certain kinds of hook(s) into long term memory that are more episodic in nature? In order to find out, we need to examine what episodic memory is like.

According to Tulving (1972; 1983), episodic memory is a system for remembering personal experiences and events in the context of the spatio-temporal details of where and when they occurred. For example, dinner from last night, a conversation with a friend over a cup of tea, parking the car at a certain place, or remembering an appointment with a doctor all refer to personal experiences or episodes in our life. Information in episodic memory is

autobiographically referenced with all the perceptible attributes of where and when the event took place. In other words, episodic memory is chiefly rooted in the input conditions.

According to Tulving (1972): “[…] an integral part of the representation of a remembered experience in episodic memory is its reference to the rememberer’s knowledge of his personal identity” (p. 389).

Although the episodic and semantic memory systems have specific functions to perform, they are nevertheless interrelated and interact with each other. According to Tulving (1993):

The relation between episodic and semantic memory is hierarchical: Episodic memory has evolved out of, but many of its operations have remained dependent on, semantic memory. A corollary is that semantic memory can operate (store and retrieve information) independently of episodic memory, but not vice versa. Episodic memory is not necessary for encoding and storing of information into semantic memory, although it may modulate such encoding and storage. Semantic memory develops earlier in childhood than episodic memory. Children are capable of learning facts of the world before they remember their own past experiences (p. 68).

It means that although episodic memory can modulate information into semantic memory, it does not necessarily have to. Whereas semantic memory is generalized knowledge, episodic memory is subtended by the person’s conscious awareness and added details of the

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abstracted from specific experiences (episodic memory). Over a period of time “episodic” experiences become separated from their spatio-temporal references and are available to us as general knowledge (Baddeley 2010, p. 93). Instead of two competing systems, semantic and episodic memories can be thought of as two complementary systems which together make up our long term declarative memory system. Yet, the contents of episodic memory are more prone to forgetting than those of semantic memory which enjoy a relatively stable and longer life (Tulving 1972). The loss of information from episodic memory is attributed normally to interference from material similarly coded/dated, leading to qualitative changes as a result of retrieval (Tulving 1972, p. 394). That is, memories get confused with each other. This is an important observation that will be returned to in the chapter 5.

According to Tulving (1972), retrieval from episodic memory, unlike semantic memory, is always non-inferential and only that bit of information can be retrieved that has been

experienced by the individual. This implies that the Quran memorizers might internalise the event of memorizing the text, that is, when and where (it is always in the mosque) the text was memorized. For example, they might remember a sense of distance of time—the order in which they learned the verses, and how long since they learned them. This would give them a timeline for getting them into order (it makes sense of why they learn the text in order). Their memory of learning the Quran might be ‘episodic’ in the sense of its being time-sensitive: a memorizer might remember that he learned a particular verse or a section of the Quran before another verse or section, or that he learned it a long time ago. Although the Quran will be memorized in a sequence, every event of memorization will be an episode in itself with its own characteristic episodic details. The whole act of memorization with various details might thus imprint itself on the mind of the memorizer (Port 2007; Taylor 2012). The memorizers might make a personal reference to the event of memorizing the text, standing as a distinct fact in their memory. Moreover, visual and sensory input would serve as back-up for recall in that they might remember where on the page the text occur or what precedes or succeeds a particular verse or phrase.

Picking up on earlier discussion, the research reviewed above further underpins an important issue in relation to Quran memorization. That is, for words to be in semantic long-term memory, one has to have some sort of ‘meaning’ to encode at the conceptual level. Tulving’s definition of semantic memory underscores the importance of the relationship between form and meaning. As form (phonology) cannot be stored in long term memory on its own (i.e. in

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the absence of meaning), the Quran memorizers might make use of another kind of meaning i.e. visuo-spatial. Meanwhile, episodic memory is assumed to store information in terms of personal experiences in the context of the spatio-temporal details of the events (Taylor 2012). In the discussion section of this chapter we will look at the match of the Quran memorization to: (a) semantic memory; (b) episodic memory; and (c) procedural memory, and will try to establish which memory store the Quran text most probably ends up in.