Types of memories

Experts have classified memory into two major kinds:

      Knowledge Memory

      Personal Memory

Knowledge memory contains information about the world while personal memory consists of information about you.

Within knowledge memory, separate domains may exist for numbers, for music, for language and for stories. These are all types of information, which appear to be dealt with in different ways.

Personal memory also comprises different kinds of domain like autobiographical memory, social memory (remembering names and faces of people), skill memory and planning memory.

      Autobiographical memory contains information about you and about personal experiences.

      Emotions, the “facts” that describe you and make you unique, the facts of your life and the experiences you have had, are all contained in separate domains and processed differently.

      Your memory for emotions can help you modify your moods.

      Specific events you have experienced are only memorable to the extent that they include details special to that specific occasion.

Most events in our lives are routine and are merged in memory into one generic memory containing the common element of the experience.