How many systems?
The figure that I presented in class on the different proposed subsystems in memory suggests an exceptionally complicated system. It was designed to demonstrate the problems that may arise from being too lenient when deciding if two aspects of memory arise from independent systems; namely, we fail to accomplish the primary goal of memory research which is to explain rather than simply label behaviors. But, it is possible that the diagram represents the true state of affairs or that memory is even MORE complicated than the diagram suggests. We have billions and billions of neurons in our heads and billions and billions of synaptic connections, so why shouldn't the system be complicated?
On the basis of what you have learned already this semester, do you think that the problem is intractable? Do you think the system is too complicated for us to understand given the limited tools that we have available (i.e., using our brains to figure out how our brains work)? Put another way, do you think the system may be too complicated for us to understand? If you think the system is complicated, is there an evolutionary explanation for the system's complexity? Is our environment and the challenges that is places on memory really that complicated?