Memory: explanation of long term memory Flashcards
Who suggested that the MSM’s view of long term memory was too simplistic and inflexible.
Tulving (1972)
What did Tulving say are the two LTM systems?
- Episodic
- Semantic
What is episodic memory?
It is time-referenced, like a mental diary that receives and stores information about events that are linked to time and context.
Episodic memory can only be retrieved if it has been encoded and stored.
What is semantic memory?
It is like a mental thesaurus where information is stored.
It can be in the form of words, verbal symbols and their meanings.
Semantic memory is responsible for storing information about the world such as facts, general knowledge and meanings of words.
Semantic memory can work on a set of stored rules but does not rely on stored information to be retrieved.
Which case studies support the existence of separate stores for LTM?
- HM - his episodic memory was impaired but his semantic memory was intact.
- KC (Rosenbaum et al, 2005) - could not recall episodic events but could recall semantic facts and information (just like HM).
What is a weakness of using case studies on brain damaged patients?
There is a lack of control over variables.
The researcher has no knowledge of the patient’s memory before the damage, therefore it is difficult to judge exactly how much worse it is now.
Who suggests that there is no support that episodic and semantic memory are affected differently in the medial temporal lobe, so episodic memory might not be a distinct memory store?
Squire and Zola (1998)
What did Ostergaard (1987) say about Tulving’s idea of LTM?
He supports Tulving’s idea that there is a separate semantic store.
He studied a 10 year old boy who had suffered brain damage to his episodic and semantic memory but he was still able to make academic progress.
What did Steyvers and Hemmer (2012) say about LTM research?
They suggested it may not be possible to study both forms of memory separately as episodic memory relies on prior knowledge which is semantic.
How can work into the LTM stores relate to issues and debates?
Socially sensitive research
Research into Alzheimer’s disease risks creating a negative perception of people as deficient, helpless and a burden on family and society.
The perception threatens the dignity of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
