LTM & the Amnesias

Question 1

What are the 2 divisions of LTM?

Answer 1

declarative (explicit) & non-declarative memory (implicit)

Question 2

Declarative memory

Answer 2

• knowing what, why, where, & when
• facts, events, locations, autobiographical knowledge
• personally experienced events
• HIPPOCAMPAL-DEPENDENT

Question 3

Non-declarative memory

Answer 3

• knowing how
• motor skills (e.g. riding bike)
• cognitive skills (e.g. reading)
• non-hippocampal dependent

Question 4

Sub-divisions of declarative memory

Answer 4

episodic & semantic memory
proposed by Tulving

Question 5

Episodic memory

Answer 5

• knowledge of personally experienced events
• when/where memories
• contextualised memory
• “mental time travel”

Question 6

Semantic memory

Answer 6

• general knowledge of the facts about the world & yourself
• what / why memories
• abstract knowledge
• accumulated over MANY experiences (e.g. knowledge about cats is not specific to a certain time period or place)

Question 7

When is non-declarative memory revealed?

Answer 7

when previous experience facilitates (improves) performance on a task
- does NOT require conscious recollection of prior learning experiences
- learning associations b/w recurring stimuli in env. (classical/operant conditioning)

Question 8

Subdivisions of non-declarative memory

Answer 8

• procedural memory
• priming
• classical conditioning
• operant conditioning
• non-associative learning (habituation & sensitization)

Question 9

What causes amnesias?

Answer 9

deficits in memory caused by brain damage, disease, drug abuse, or psychological trauma
- selective deficits PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR DIVISIONS B/W DECLARATIVE & NON-DECLARATIVE MEMORY SYSTEMS

Question 10

What is retrograde amnesia?

Answer 10

an inability to remember knowledge acquired BEFORE the brain injury
- TEMPORALLY GRADED

Question 11

What is anterograde amnesia?

Answer 11

an inability to recall anything since the time of the brain injury
- inability to learn new info