Memory - Types of Long-term memory Flashcards
8 marker LTM
- One strength of the idea that there are different types of LTM is that there are many examples of brain damaged patients to support this
- For example, looking at people such as Cliver Wearing and HM has shown that although both men had problems with their episodic memory, their semantic memory and procedural memory were still intact. This can be shown through Clive’s memory of how to play the piano (procedural) and that he has a wife (semantic) however he could not remember their wedding day or when he last saw her (episodic).
- This is a strength because it supports the idea that there are three stores/types of LTM as after brain damage one store was damaged whilst the other two stayed intact which means they can’t recall episodic memories but can recall semantic and procedural and that they would’ve lost all memories if they were all in one store so there must be three stores
- Case studies are useful in this context because they have a real world application as their experiences and their cases can’t be fabricated to support the idea.
- However, a limitation is that findings from case studies cannot be proved as they are based on individuals with brain damage. This is a problem because it may well be that their brain damage causes other difficulties such as paying attention therefore they may do not do well in memory tasks when being tested. Another problem is case studies cannot be replicated as this would be unethical, therefore it is difficult to test the validity of the results to investigate if there really are different types of LTM.
- Despite this, overall the use of case studies raises the internal validity of the proposal that there are different types of LTM.
- Thus increasing the validity of types of LTM
- A weakness of LTM is the conflicting evidence
- For example, Buckner and Petersen reviewed evidence regarding the location of semantic memory and episodic memory. They concluded that semantic memory is located in the left side of the prefrontal cortex and episodic memory on the right. However, Tulving et Al’s research links the left prefrontal cortex and episodic memory and the right prefrontal cortex with semantic memories.
- This is a weakness as it shows that there is conflicting research findings linking types of LTM to areas of the brain, reducing the reliability of evidence and research for long term memory
- Overall, this challenges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each type might be located
- Thus decreasing the validity of LTM
AO1
- Episodic memory – a long-term memory for personal events. It includes memories of when the events occurred and of the people, objects, places and behaviours involved. Memories from this store have to be retrieved consciously and with effort
- Semantic memory – a long-term memory store for our knowledge of the world. This includes facts and our knowledge of what words and concepts mean. These memories usually also need to be recalled deliberately
- Procedural memory – a long-term memory store for our knowledge of how to do things. This includes our memories of learned skills. We usually recall these memories without making a conscious or deliberate effort
AO3
- One strength of the idea that there are different types of LTM is that there are many examples of brain damaged patients to support this
- For example, looking at people such as Cliver Wearing and HM has shown that although both men had problems with their episodic memory, their semantic memory and procedural memory were still intact. This can be shown through Clive’s memory of how to play the piano (procedural) and that he has a wife (semantic) however he could not remember their wedding day or when he last saw her (episodic).
- This is a strength because it supports the idea that there are three stores/types of LTM as after brain damage one store was damaged whilst the other two stayed intact which means they can’t recall episodic memories but can recall semantic and procedural and that they would’ve lost all memories if they were all in one store so there must be three stores
- Case studies are useful in this context because they have a real world application as their experiences and their cases can’t be fabricated to support the idea.
- However, a limitation is that findings from case studies cannot be proved as they are based on individuals with brain damage. This is a problem because it may well be that their brain damage causes other difficulties such as paying attention therefore they may do not do well in memory tasks when being tested. Another problem is case studies cannot be replicated as this would be unethical, therefore it is difficult to test the validity of the results to investigate if there really are different types of LTM.
- Despite this, overall the use of case studies raises the internal validity of the proposal that there are different types of LTM.
- Thus increasing the validity of types of LTM
- A strength of types of long term memory is that it allows psychologists to help people with memory problems
- For example, researchers devised an intervention to improve episodic memories in older people. The trained participants performed better on a test of episodic memory after training than a control group
- This is a strength as when people age, they experience memory loss. But research has shown this seems to be specific to episodic memory as it becomes harder to recall memories of personal events/experiences that occurred relatively recently though past episodic memories stay intact which means that it can help people get the specific help they need to recall episodic memories
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- Despite this, distinguishing between types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed
- Thus increasing the validity of types of LTM
- A weakness of types of LTM is that there are conflicting research findings linking types of LTM to areas of the brain
- For example, researchers reviewed evidence regarding the location of semantic and episodic memory. They concluded that semantic memory is located in the left size of the prefrontal cortex and episodic memory on the right.
- This is a weakness as other research links the left prefrontal cortex with semantic memories (Tulving et al), which reduces the reliability of research as it is not clear which is the correct research.
- However, it can be argued *****
- Despite that, this challenges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each type might be located
- Thus reducing the validity of types of LTM
what are the three types of LTM
episodic
semantic
procedural
types of LTM
One of the major limitations of the MSM is that its description of LTM as a single unitary store is now
seen as outdated. Many research studies have shown that there are at least three different types of
long-term store
episodic
- First suggested by Tulving (1972), it is the type of long-term memory
that gives individuals an autobiographical record of things that have
happened to them (our memories of our experiences). In other words,
it is the storage of episodes that happen throughout our lives.
Examples of episodic memories are your 7th birthday party, your last
holiday, what you did last night, your first kiss etc. - Think of episodic memories in terms of 3Ws, containing information about what happened,
where it happened, and when it happened. Individuals tend to see themselves as actors in
these events, and the emotional charge and the entire context surrounding an event is usually
part of the memory, not just the bare facts of the event itself. Furthermore, having episodic
memory allows us to make predictions about what will happen to us in the future. - That is not to suggest that episodic memories contain exact reproductions of what happened. It
is suggested that episodic memories are constructed, rather than reproductive, and is prone to
errors and illusions. The section on eye-witness testimony will explore this further, but our
episodic memories are subject to stereotyping, subjective interpretation, missing out
information or adding in missing parts.
semantic
- This is a structured record of facts, meanings, concepts and
knowledge about the external world that we have acquired. It
refers to general factual knowledge, shared with others and
independent of personal experience and of the time and place in
which it was acquired. - Semantic memories may once have had a personal context, but
now stand alone as simple knowledge. It therefore includes such
things as types of food, capital cities, social customs, historical dates, functions of objects,
vocabulary, understanding of mathematics, etc. - There is an enormous amount of information available in semantic memory, and is continually
being added to.
procedural
- This differs from the other two types of long-term memory, as it
tends to be unconscious, whereas the other two are conscious.
Procedural memory (“knowing how”) is the unconscious memory
of skills and how to do things, particularly the use of objects or
movements of the body, such as tying a shoelace, playing a guitar
or riding a bike. - These memories are typically acquired through repetition and practice, and are composed of
automatic sensorimotor behaviours that are so deeply embedded that we are no longer aware
of them. Once learned, these “body memories” allow us to carry out ordinary motor actions more
or less automatically. A good example of this is learning how to drive a car. Initially it is very
difficult, but with repeated practice it becomes ‘second nature’.
evaluation of types of LTM
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE (BIO EVIDENCE)
There is evidence to suggest that when a person uses episodic
memory, they use a different region in the brain compared with when
they use semantic memory. Tulving (1989) injected himself, his wife
and 4 others with particles of radioactive gold that he could use to
track brain blood flow in a scanner. He scanned each person’s brain
whilst they thought about historical facts or childhood experiences. He
found in 3/6 participants (including himself), that when they were
thinking about historical facts blood flow increased at the back of his
brain, whereas when he thought about childhood experiences blood
flow increased at the front of his brain. The activation of the different
areas of the brain when recalling facts or episodes suggests a
biological basis to the different types of memory in LTM
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE (CASE STUDIES)
In the case of Clive Wearing, as illness caused the near total
destruction of his hippocampus. This left him with an inability to store
new episodic or semantic information for any more than a few
seconds. However, he was perfectly able to read, write, speak and play
piano.
Other researchers investigated learning in people with Huntingdon’s
Disease (a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain). They found
that HD patients had no problems learning new facts and knowledge,
but had severe problems learning new motor skills.
These findings give a strong indication that damage to specific areas of
the brain leave the patients with deficits in one or more types of long
term memory, whilst leaving other long-term memory stores intact, this
offers support for the biological basis of separate long-term stores
CHALLENGING RESEARCH
Critics challenge the need of distinguishing between types of LTM.
Cohen and Squire suggest that semantic and episodic memory should
be understood as the same type of memory, called ‘declarative
memory’, and research by Kan et al (2009) found that there was
interdependence between episodic and semantic memory. Whether
there are two or three types (or more) of LTM may be important when
attempting to help people recover their cognitive functions after
illnesses such as stokes.
(Counter point for extension: Being able to identify different aspects of
LTM has led to psychologists targeting specific kinds of memory to
make people’s lives better. Belleville et al (2006) demonstrated that
episodic memories could be improved with training in older patients
with mild cognitive impairment. This shows that the tripartite division of
long-term memory has had tangible benefits for people with cognitive
impairment, making it a useful theory).
