Memory: Types of Long Term Memory

Question 1

What did Tulving propose in terms of the LTM?

Answer 1

suggested there were three types of LTM store

Question 2

What is an episodic memory?

Answer 2

ability to recall events (or episodes) from our lives

Question 3

What are the key features of an episodic memory?

Answer 3

-time stamped -require conscious effort to recall -involves hippocampus and prefrontal cortex -emotional intensity determines strength -focuses on elements such as people, place etc.

Question 4

What is a semantic memory?

Answer 4

refers to memories linked to knowledge of our world

Question 5

What are the key features of a semantic memory?

Answer 5

-likened to combination of encyclopaedia and dictionary -involves temporal lobe
-not personal information, information we all share -not time stamped

Question 6

What is a procedural memory?

Answer 6

refers to memories of actions and skills

Question 7

What are the key features of a procedural memory?

Answer 7

-little conscious effort -difficult to explain to another -involves cerebellum and motor cortex
-practiced and repeated actions

Question 8

Outline the case study of Clive Wearing

Answer 8

Wearing: suffers severe case of amnesia: viral infection damaged hippocampus and associated areas: presents procedural memories (can play the same piece of music but can’t remember playing it in the first place) but struggled with episodic

Question 9

How is application of Types of Long Term Memory a strength?

Answer 9

-allows psychologists to help with memory problems -people with age experience memory loss -specific to episodic memories -Belleville devised intervention to improve episodic in older people -trained participants performed better than control group -distinguishing between types allows specific treatments to be developed

Question 10

How is conflicting evidence from neuroimaging a limitation?

Answer 10

-types of LTM linked to different areas of the brain than originally stated
-Buckner and Peterson reviewed location of semantic and episodic
-concluded left of prefrontal cortex associated with semantic and right with episodic
-other research links episodic with left and semantic with right (Tulving et al)
-poor agreement on location -lowers validity