5 - Types of Long - Term Memory

Question 1

Define episodic memory

Answer 1

Related to personal experiences, such as memories of family holidays, birthdays etc

Composed of three elements : specific details of the event, context of the event and the emotions felt during the event.

Question 2

Define semantic memory

Answer 2

Memory for knowledge about the world e.g capital cities, 2+2=4 etc

Generally begin as episodic memories, as we get knowledge from personal experiences.

Transition from episodic to semantic where memory loses its association to a particular event and is generalised.

Question 3

Define procedural memory

Answer 3

Related to skills e.g how to tie shoelaces, how to drive and read etc

Remembering HOW to do something rather than the rules of what to do

Typically acquired through practice and repetition.

Less aware of these memories as they are automatic

Question 4

Why is it important that procedural memory is automatic?

Answer 4

So we can focus our attention on other tasks while performing these everyday skills

Question 5

What are the advantages of the types of long term memory

Answer 5

Brain scans show that when episodic memories is associated with the hippocampus, semantic memory is associated with the temporal lobe and procedural memory is associated with the cerebellum. This shows the three types of LTM are separate and distinct.

HM was able to form new procedural memories but not new episodic or semantic memories because his hippocampus was destroyed in a surgery to cure his epilepsy

Some patients with Alzheimer’s disease can form new episodic memories but not semantic memories

Other patients with Alzheimer’s can form new semantic memories but no episodic ones

Question 6

What are the disadvantages of different types of long term memory?

Answer 6

Priming :
Priming describes how implicit memories can influence people’s responses or behaviour. E.g give people a list of words containing the word yellow, then ask them to name a fruit, the chance of them saying banana is high.

This is a kind of implicit behaviour because the answers are automatic and unconscious. This is controlled by a brain system separate from the systems involved in episodic, semantic and procedural.

This suggests we have a fourth kind of memory : the perceptual - representation system.

• Spiers et al studied memory in 147 patients with amnesia. It was found that their procedural and perceptual representation system was intact, but their episodic and semantic memories were not.

This suggests we have four types of LTM not three.