Semantic memory
by Louis Renoult
Stimuli that have semantic or conceptual representations, are stimuli that are meaningful and familiar (e.g., a picture of an animal) as opposed to meaningless or unfamiliar stimuli (e.g., an abstract geometrical drawing).
The semantic representation of an object includes both information specific to that object, which defines it as a distinct entity (i.e., a specific animal), and information (or features) shared by other category members (Martin, 2001; Taylor, Devereux and Tyler, 2011). Crucially, the activation of semantic representations depends on the meaning of the item and not on the physical format of its presentation.
For instance, the semantic representation of a chair could be activated by the written word “squirrel”, the heard name “squirrel” or a illustration of a squirrel. This mental representation allows recognizing various instances of the concept, reasoning about the concept and understanding complex combinations involving this concept. (Komatsu, 1992).
In more general terms, semantic representations thus enable us to interpret the present environment based on past experiences (Murphy, 2002). Although I have never seen this particular tomato before (i.e., episodic information), I can infer that it is probably like other tomatoes I have eaten and therefore I know that it is edible and likely to taste good.
