long term memory

Question 1

episodic and semantic memory - P1, A01

Answer 1

Tulving realised that the multi-store model of long term memory was too simplistic and inflexible
Tulving proposed that there are at least two systems in the long term memory which contain very different information
he suggested that these systems were episodic memory and semantic memory

Question 2

strength for episodic and semantic memory, clinical evidence (HM) - P1, A03

Answer 2

one strength of this explanation of long term memory is the distinction between episodic and semantic memories which is supported by evidence from the case study of HM
HM’s episodic memory was severely impaired as a result of brain damage
he had difficulty recalling events from his past, but his semantic memory was relatively unaffected (e.g., he still understood the meaning of words)
so HM could not recall stroking a dog half an hour earlier and could not remember owning a dog in the past
but he was able to recall the concept of a dog and did not need this reexplaining to him
therefore, this supports Tulving’s view that there are different memory stores in the long term memory. in HM’s case one store was damaged and the other was not

Question 3

COUNTER ARGUMENT TO strength for episodic and semantic memory, clinical evidence (HM) - P1, A03

Answer 3

one major weakness of clinical studies is that they lack control of variables
these studies involve people who have experienced brain damage, which is usually unexpected
this means the researcher has no knowledge of the patients memory before the damage
without this, it is difficult to judge exactly how much worse it is now
therefore, this lack of control reduces the validity of clinical studies and limits what they can tell us about types of long term memory

Question 3

time referencing and spatial referencing episodic and semantic memory - P2, A01

Answer 3

semantic memories are not time stamped where as episodic memories are meaning that you remember exactly when they happened, recently or last week or this morning - as well as storing the memory we store how the memories relate to each other in time
episodic memories are able to be interwoven to produce one single memory, where as semantic memories can be inputted in a fragmented way

Question 4

retrieval of episodic and semantic memory - P3, A01

Answer 4

semantic memories are able to be recalled without cues and retrieval does not affect the memory trace
episodic memories require queues for recall and retrieval of these memories can distort the memory trace
semantic memories are able to be recalled independently of episodic memories but episodic memories are based on semantic memories so can not be recalled independently

Question 4

time referencing and spatial referencing episodic and semantic memory - P2, A03 ?????

Question 5

application of research into the long term memory model - P4, A03

Answer 5

one strength of understanding the episodic and semantic distinction is that it has given rise to real-life applications
Sylvie Belleville worked with older people who had a mild memory impairment
the participants undertook a training programme to improve their episodic memories
compared with a control group, these participants performed better on a test of episodic memory after the training
the fact that it is possible to improve one type of long term memory rather than another argues in favour of there being different types
therefore, this is a benefit of identifying different types of long term memory because it can be used to help people with specific memory problems to lead more normal lives in old age