ABSTRACT

Researchers have described numerous hypotheses of hippocampal function based on lesion data, attempting to present these hypotheses entirely in verbal terms-using terms such as “interference”, “response inhibition”, “context”, “temporal contiguity”, “snapshot memory”, etc. This method of hypothesis presentation results in an incomplete and distorted perception of the experimental data, as it is filtered through the multiple associations that each individual has with these verbal terms. Even the terms used in the title of this chapter, such as episodic memory and spatial navigation, come laden with semantic associations that can distract from the essential features of hippocampal function.