Long-Term Memory Model - S + W

Question 1

Neurologist Dr. S fell while skiing. When his skiing party caught up, he was surprised at how old his wife looked and couldn’t remember some of his younger colleagues, however he was able to continue to ski down the mountain. As a result of his fall he had lost his episodic memory, forgetting the previous 25 years. At the hospital, he was able to correctly diagnose his amnesia from a brain scan, something he would have learned in the past 25 years, suggesting that his semantic memory remained in tact. The fact that he had been able to ski down the mountain after his fall suggested his procedural memory had also remained

Answer 1

Supports the theory as it suggests that semantic, procedural, and episodic memories are all stored in distinctly separate parts of the brain

Question 2

Tulving provided brain scans as evidence - episodic memory was associated with high activity levels in the frontal cortex, while semantic memory was associated with activity at the back of the cortex

Answer 2

Supports the theory as it suggests the separate stores of semantic and episodic memories in separate parts of the brain

Question 3

While semantic and episodic memories are different in content, the process appears the same. They seem to rely heavily on each other and are not separate

Answer 3

Refutes Tulving’s model, which suggests complete separate storage of the three memory types, as there may not be as clear a distinction between them

Question 4

Difference in encoding?

Answer 4

Whilst semantic and episodic have a
clear difference in content, it is unclear
if there is a difference in process. They
seem to depend heavily on each other
and are not separate - Refutes model
as suggests semantic and episodic
memories are not as separate as
suggested in the model