Dr. Endul Tulving- Research

Dr. Tulving is perhaps best known for his distinction between semantic and episodic memory. Episodic memory is the memory of personal events, such as a family vacation. Semantic memory, on the other hand, is based upon facts, and Dr. Tulving proposes that its mechanisms are different.

There have been recent developments that support Dr. Tulving's ideas. Individuals with specific brain damage seem to lack episodic memory. Dr. Tulving also argues that episodic memory differentiates humans from animals. For instance, the next time the dog in the photograph (lacking episodic memory) sees the kittens, he will not remember meeting them, but will recognize them.