KP8
EST:
Treffneri Gümnaasium
Munga 12
Treffneri Gümnaasiumis alustas oma haridusteed kogu maailmas tuntud mäluteadlane Endel
Tulving. Üks tema tähtsatest avastustest oli teadmine, et inimese mälu pole üks tervik, vaid
eristada saab vähemalt kahte mälusüsteemi: episoodiline ehk autobiograafiline mälu
võimaldab inimesel mäletada oma elu sündmusi, semantiline mälu aga talletab üldisi teadmisi
maailma kohta.
Seda erinevust kirjeldab kuulus juhtum patsiendi K. C.-ga, kes kaotas mootorrattaõnnetuse tõttu
episoodilise mälu. Pärast seda elas mees vaid olevikus ega mäletanud isegi viie sekundi
taguseid sündmusi. Tema arst Endel Tulving, kes oli temaga sadu kordi kohtunud, pidi end talle
alati uuesti tutvustama. Semantiline mälu oli K. C.-l aga säilinud – maailmaasjade kohta teadis
ta peaaegu sama palju kui keskmine kooliharidusega inimene. Ka malet mängis ta üsna hästi,
kuid ei olnud võimeline meenutama, et oleks seda kunagi varem teinud.
Semantilise ja episoodilise mälu erinevust väljendab ka n-ö ajas rändamine, mida episoodiline
mälu näiteks isiklike mälestuste loomisega võimaldab, aga semantiline mälu mitte – näiteks
teame, et Prantsusmaa pealinn on Pariis ja kaks korda kaks on neli, aga me ei tea, kus ja millal
seda teada saime.
Viited:
● Sirje Niitra (2014). Mälu ja unustamine mõjutavad meie elu. – Postimees Tervis,
https://tervis.postimees.ee/2804946/malu-ja-unustamine-mojutavad-meie-elu.
● Jüri Allik (2002). Endel Tulving ja mälu. – Endel Tulving, Mälu, 9–31, https://web.archive.org/web/20050526084429/http:/psych.ut.ee/~jyri/ee/Tulving%20ja%20m%E4lu.htm.
ENG:
Hugo Treffner Gymnasium
Munga 12
The world-renowned memory researcher Endel Tulving started his education at Treffner
Gymnasium. One of his important discoveries was the knowledge that human memory is not
a single entity, but at least two memory systems can be distinguished: episodic or
autobiographical memory allows people to remember events in their lives, while semantic
memory stores general knowledge about the world.
This difference is illustrated by the famous case of patient K. C. who lost episodic memory
due to a motorcycle accident. After that, the man lived only in the present and could not even
remember the events of five seconds ago. His doctor Endel Tulving, who had met him
hundreds of times, always had to introduce himself. However, K. C. had preserved the
semantic memory – he knew about facts of the world as much as any average educated
person. He was also quite good at chess but could not remember ever having played it
before.
The difference between semantic and episodic memory is also expressed in the so-called
mental time travel, which episodic memory allows through the creation of personal
memories, but semantic memory does not – for example, we know that the capital of France
is Paris and two times two is four, but we do not know where and when we learned that.
Sources:
● Sirje Niitra (2014). Mälu ja unustamine mõjutavad meie elu. – Postimees Tervis.
https://tervis.postimees.ee/2804946/malu-ja-unustamine-mojutavad-meie-elu.
● Jüri Allik (2002). Endel Tulving ja mälu. In the book: Endel Tulving, Mälu, 9–31, https://web.archive.org/web/20050526084429/http:/psych.ut.ee/~jyri/ee/Tulving%20ja%20m%E4lu.htm.