Nature of Declarative Memory

Nature of Declarative Memory In the event that someone approaches an isolated ranch house at twilight and sees a barely visible person, the nature of declarative memory and the possibility of its involvement in parallel distributed processing regarding formation can affect one's perception of this scene in a number of different ways. Firstly, the fact that the scene is taking place at dusk suggests that vision is limited for the individual approaching the ranch.

Therefore, although he or she may be able to see some things, that person's efficacy in viewing them is inherently circumscribed and will likely be augmented by other sensory factors. In addition to the feel of the temperature and the particular sounds such a person hears, the memory of this person can help to supply some of the sights that are missing due to the limited amount of light.

In particular, declarative memory can play a significant factor in assisting one's perceptions in this particular situation, since vision alone is not enough to influence one's perception. Declarative memory is the type of memory that is recalled at will and which consists of a number of different facts that one can utilize to make inferences-in this particular scenario, those inferences will likely involve the barely visible person.

For instance, a person might assume that such an individual is wearing a hat if there is enough light to suggest the outline of one, and if that person has memories of seeing someone wear a hat in difficult to perceive visual settings. Essentially, declarative memory is responsible for such a person associating connotations with the barely visible person that the one approaching has experienced before.

If that person has had negative experiences with strangers in isolated settings, his or her declarative memory might influence him or her to perceive the barely visible person as a threat, since there is a correlation between stress and long-term memories (Hupbach and Dorskind, 2014, p. 614). The impact of declarative memory on parallel distributed processing helps to reinforce this fact. Although there are a number of different aspects of parallel distributed processing, the crux of this concept is that various forms of memory take place simultaneously.

Thus, the person approaching the house in this particular instance will not simply utilize declarative memory to augment his or her limited vision of the shrouded individual in what might be a threatening scenario on an isolated ranch; such a person could also utilize aspects of procedural memory as well. If such a person had indeed had a negative experience with someone else in an isolated setting, that person's procedural memory could induce procedural behavior that is used to mitigate threatening circumstances.

A good example of this fact is the tendency of someone to begin biting his or her nails (if that is an involuntary habit he or she has in situations when he or she feels threatened). The point is that parallel distributed processing allows for several different types of memories at once, in which the influence of declarative memory is tempered by additional types of memory.

Additional factors such as the length of time since the person approaching had been sleeping can also affect his or her declarative memory (Lo et al., 2014, p. 1) and its impact on his or her perception The relationship between those types of memories and their reactions.