3. types of LTM

Question 1

describe EPISODIC MEMORY

Answer 1

The ability to call events from our lives personal experiences e.g. a birthday.
Time stamped - you remember when it happened.
Conscious - must make a conscious effort to recall these memories.

Question 2

describe semantic memory

Answer 2

Is the shared knowledge of the world e.g. colour of a strawberry.
Not time stamped.
Less personal facts
Requires conscious recall.
Less vulnerable to distortion and forgetting than episodic memory.

Question 3

AO3: strength of TYPES OF LTM

case studies - HM, CW

Answer 3

Case studies of HM and Clive Wearing provide evidence for the existence of separate LTM stores.
Episodic memory in both men was severely impaired due to brain damage, but their semantic memories remained largely unaffected. They still understood the meanings of words, for example Clive Wearing knew how to read music, sing, and play the piano.
This supports Tulving’s view that there are different memory stores in LTM, as one store can be damaged, but the other ones may remain unaffected.

Question 4

describe PROCEDURAL MEMORY

Answer 4

Memory for actions and skills how we do things.
Does not require conscious recall - ability becomes automatic through practice.
e.g. driving a car.

Question 4

AO3: limitation of TYPES OF LTM

conflicting research findings - Buckner, Petersen

Answer 4

One limitation is that there are conflicting research findings linking types of LTM to areas of the brain.
For example, Buckner and Petersen reviewed evidence regarding the location of semantic and episodic memory. They concluded that semantic memory is located in the left side of the prefrontal cortex and episodic memory on the right. However, other research links the left prefrontal cortex with encoding of episodic memories and the right prefrontal cortex with episodic retrieval.
This challenges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each type might be located.

Question 5

AO3: limitation of TYPES OF LTM

counterpoint - case studies lack control

Answer 5

There are issues with using case studies to produce general laws of memory.
Case studies lack control over variables. The brain injuries experienced by participants were usually unexpected, and the researchers had no way of controlling what happened to the participant before or during the injury. Furthermore, the researcher has no knowledge of the individual’s memory before damage. Without these, it is difficult to judge exactly how much worse it is afterwards.
This lack of control limits what clinical studies can tell us about different types of LTM.

Question 5

AO3: strength of TYPES OF LTM

real life application - Belleville

Answer 5

Another strength is that understanding types of LTM allows psychologists to help people with memory problems.
For example, as people age, they experience memory loss. But research has shown this seems to be specific to episodic memory - it becomes harder to recall memories of personal events/experiences that occurred relatively recently though past episodic memories remain intact. Belleville et al. devised an intervention to improve episodic memories in older people. The trained participants performed better on a test of episodic memory after training than a control group.
This shows that distinguishing between types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed.