Within the domain of memory functioning, researchers have used this approach by defining different dimensions for processing memory. These dimensions of memory have specific terms associated with them (e.g., short-term vs. long-term memory, declarative vs. procedural memory, and episodic vs. semantic memory). For example, declarative memory refers to knowing a particular piece of information (e.g., a phone number), and procedural memory refers to being able to perform a particular task without necessarily knowing when or where one learned how to do it (e.g., tying shoe-laces). Similarly, episodic memory refers to memory for specific events, facts, or episodes (e.g., it snowed yesterday), whereas semantic (or knowledge) memory is general, organized knowledge about the world (e.g., 52 weeks compose a year). An individual may be impaired in one dimension of processing but not in the other. Each dimension has been used to help researchers understand preserved and impaired memory abilities in a variety of subject populations, including alcoholic Korsakoff patients (for a review, see Cermak 1990).
