memory: tulving LTM

Question 1

what is episodic memory?

Answer 1

memory for events

Question 2

what is semantic memory?

Answer 2

memory for facts

Question 3

what is the explanation of ltm based on?

Answer 3

the msm. however, it suggests there is a difference between episodic memory and more general memory.

Question 4

what is the nature of episodic memory?

Answer 4

• tulving suggested it is a kind of mental diary.
• it receives and stores info about experiences and events that occur at a time in our life
• they are linked to time and context
• it is a record of events personal to you

Question 5

what is the nature of semantic memory?

Answer 5

• tulving suggested it’s like a mental encyclopaedia
• stores words, facts, rules, meanings and concepts
• organised body of knowledge
• associated with other facts that link concepts together

Question 6

time referencing in episodic memory

Answer 6

• time referencing: when some occurred
• tulving believed episodic memory was dependent on time referencing; memories about events occurred to you are linked to time in which they occurred

Question 7

time referencing in semantic memory

Answer 7

• time referencing: when something occurred
• semantic memory is detached from time when it occurred; factual info can be recalled without reference to when it was learned

Question 8

spatial referencing in episodic memory

Answer 8

• spatial referencing: where something occurred
• input into episodic memory is continuous, we experience a whole episode in relation to when and where it happened

Question 9

spatial referencing in semantic memory

Answer 9

• spatial referencing: where something occurred
• semantic memories can be input in fragmentary (pieces of info) way. we can then piece factual info together that has been learned at different points in time

Question 10

retrieval in episodic memory

Answer 10

only possible if it has been encoded and stored. changes memory that is stored, as new episode that links to it is now encoded and stored.

Question 11

retrieval in semantic memory

Answer 11

can help people to work out things they don’t know before doing the working out. it does not change actual memory.

Question 12

independence of semantic memory

Answer 12

• can operate independently of episodic memory.

Question 13

independence in episodic memory

Answer 13

• unlikely to operate without semantic memory as we need to be able to draw on previous knowledge of objects, people and events that occur in order to understand.
• tulving argues that although two systems can overlap, they can be treated as separate independent stores

Question 14

forgetting in episodic memory

Answer 14

• forgetting due to retrieval cue failure (forgetting when and where something happened)
• memory trace can be transformed/changed

Question 15

forgetting in semantic memory

Answer 15

• memory trace more robust and less susceptible to change

Question 16

strengths: supporting evidence

Answer 16

• tulving explains in detail about types of ltm e.g. how semantic memories can be created using other semantic memories ( such as ’i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ rule) whereas episodic memories must be encoded and stored individually.
• Henry molaison had difficulty recalling events from past, could not remember owning dog previously, but he did not need to have the concepts of ‘dog’ explained to him.
• his argument is persuasive, thorough and evidenced.

Question 17

strengths: other things

Answer 17

• neurophysiological evidence for model - episodic memory seems to be affected by pre-frontal brain damage rather than semantic memories.

Question 18

weaknesses: opposing evidence

Answer 18

• examining case studies of brain-damaged patients points out weakness in model of ltm. e.g. Clive Wearing suffered memory impairments that affected ability to retain and recall ltm from episodic storage, but was still able to remember how to perform procedural tasks such as playing piano and could learn new skills. model is problematic as it is difficult to know whether two stores are separate and independent as it appears that they reply on each other when used in everyday life.
• Sir Colin Blakemore 1988 carried out case study on Clive Wearing. discovered that damage to Clive Wearing’s brain has been to hippocampus, part of the brain where stm rehearses information to encode it into ltm
• Schmolck et al. 2002 looks at other patients with amnesia due to damage to hippocampus; includes patients like Clive Wearing who suffered herpes encephalitis infection. patients also struggled with semantic memory due to damage to wider temporal cortex

Question 19

strengths: different theories

Answer 19

• Bartlett’s Reconstructive Memory: for both, retrieval changes semantically and episodically. more events are being recalled when story is told. mental representation of info about events. could be either rationalised (shortened) or confabulated (made up)

Question 20

weakness: different theories

Answer 20

• Baddeley + Hitch’s WMM: (finish)

Question 21

strengths: application

Answer 21

• Belleville et al. 2006: worked with older people who had mild memory impairment. ppts undertook training programme to improve episodic memories. compared with control group, ppts performed better on test of episodic memory after training. the fact that it is possible to improve one type of ltm rather than another argues in favour of there being different types.