Long Term Memory Flashcards
Who replaced Atkinson and Shifffrins multi store model and why?
Tulving (1985) rejected the MSMs unitary store view on LTM. Tulving suggested LTM is a multi part system made up of 3 types (episodic, semantic and procedural)
Outline episodic memory
Remembering when
Episodic LTM is ability to recall personal experiences and events from our lives eg birthdays, breakfast had this morning
Require conscious / explicit effort to recall eg have to search memory to remember what happened on holiday last year
Easy to verbalise episodic memories
Includes people, places, objects and behaviours
Strength of episodic memories depends on the emotions present at the time the memory was encoded eg traumatic events are often well recalled
Episodic memories are time stamped / your remember when they happened eg last week, this morning, 3 years ago
Outline semantic memory
Remembering the meaning
Contains facts about the world eg capital of England is London, the meanings of words etc
Requires conscious / explicit effort to recall
Less personal and not time stamped eg you know the capital of England is London but don’t remember exactly when you learnt that
Outline procedural memory
Remembering how
Memory for actions and skills
Can recall wo conscious awareness (implicit) eg knowing how to ride a bike depends on developed skill which we automatically access from procedural memory
Many procedural LTMs occur early in life (learning of motor skills like walking and dressing
Difficult to verbalise these skills
Evaluate long terms memory types using neuro imaging research evidence
Empirical research support for LTM having different subsystems comes from TUulving et al (1989)
Ppts performed memory tasks whilst their brains being scanned using PET scans
Tulving found episodic memories recalled from pre frontal cortex and semantic memories from posterior region of cortex
As different types of LTM found in diff brain areas, suggests different types of LTM are separate
Also, PET scans provide physical / empirical, objective neuro-imaging evidence
Strengthens support as evidence is free from bias and considered as highly scientifically credible
Evaluate types of LTM using real life applications
Research support for diff types LTM allows psychologists and clinicians to improve ppls lives
Episodic memory most often affected by mild cognitive impairments, which hilights benefit of being able to distinguish diff types of LTM
Belleville et al (2006) showed episodic memories could e improved in old ppl who had mild cognitive impairments
Trained ppts performed better on episodic memory test after training than control group
Suggests if psychologists know about separate LTM stores then treatment programmes can be developed to help ppl, which means the contribution to clinical world is highly valuable
Evaluate types of LTM using the overlap between semantic and episodic stores as a limitation
Main issue w LTM subsystems theory is the extent which episodic and semantic memory stores are effect is unclear
Although different brain systems involved, lots of overlap between 2 systems
Because we acquire knowledge based on personal experiences, semantic memories can originate in episodic memories
Therefore unclear if semantic memory is just a gradual transformation from episodic memory rather than separate system
As this is difficult to explain it questions overall validity of the theory especially if researchers cannot be sure of the internal validity of research that is presented as evidence
Evaluate types of LTM using the low population validity of case study’s
A limitation of research into LTM is it uses very small samples
Psychologists interested in studying case studies of brain injuries eg Clive Wearing, which have provided lots useful info about what happens when memory is damaged
However clinical case studies like this are unique to one individual, meaning the findings from studying Clive wearing are difficult to generalise to wider population
A problem as evidence unable to provide solid conclusions that can be applied to explain everybody’s LTM
Therefore research’s lacks population validity
