MEMORY- Types of LTM

Question 1

Define episodic memory

Answer 1

A LTM store for personal events, it involves memories of when the events occurred and of the people, behaviours, objects and places involved

Question 2

Define semantic memory

Answer 2

An LTM store for our knowledge of the world, this includes facts and our knowledge of what words and concepts mean

Question 3

Define procedural memory

Answer 3

An LTM store for our knowledge of how to do things which includes our memories of learnt skills

Question 4

What did Tulving (1985) argue?

Answer 4

-MSM is too simplistic + inflexible
-Believed that there were 3 different stores for different types of information

Question 5

What were declarative memories?

Answer 5

-Semantic memories
-Episodic memories

Question 6

What is a flashbulb memory?

Answer 6

A detailed and vivid memory of an event that is stored after the occasion and lasts a lifetime

Question 7

Give some examples of flashbulb memories

Answer 7

-Births
-Deaths
-Things associated with important historical events such as 9/11

Question 8

What makes a flashbulb memory particularly vivid?

Answer 8

-Emotional arousal when the memory is first encoded

Question 9

What type of memories are episodic and semantic? Why?

Answer 9

Explicit- you consciously remember

Question 10

What type of memory is procedural? Why?

Answer 10

Implicit- you unconsciously remember

Question 11

Give an example of an episodic memory?

Answer 11

-Birthday

Question 12

How do semantic memories usually start?

Answer 12

-Episodic memories but progressively loose their association with particular events and only the knowledge remains

Question 13

Give an example of a procedural memory

Answer 13

-Riding a bike/driving

Question 14

Are procedural memories automatic after repetition and practice

Answer 14

Yes

Question 15

Give a strength (neuro imaging)

Answer 15

-Evidence from brain scans
-Episodic memory is associated with the hippocampus, other parts of the temporal lobe and frontal lobe
-Semantic memory relies on the temporal lobe
-Procedural memory activation is associated with cerebellum
-Indicates that three types of memory are found in different part of the brain so are separate
-Physical evidence= valid

Question 16

Give another strength (clinical evidence)

Answer 16

-Clinical evidence
-Both Clive wearing and HM suffered from LTM memory loss due to brain trauma
-Their episodic memory was impacted but semantic memory remained intact as Clive could still read music
-If there were not different types of LTM the men would have no long term memories at all
-However studying participants will brain injuries lacks control variables which prevents the researcher from being able to generalise

Question 17

Give a strength (Alzheimers)

Answer 17

-Studies of patients with Alzheimer’s
-Researchers examined the relationship between episodic and semantic memories
-Some patients could form new semantic memories but not new episodic memories (Hodges and Patterson 2007)
-Irish found that some Alzeimhers patients had poor semantic memory but generally intact episodic memories
-Suggests that episodic and semantic are separate
-Episodic memories may be a gateway to semantic memory
-Semantic memories may form separately

Question 18

Give a limitation (declarative memory)

Answer 18

-Declarative memory
-Cohen and Squire(1980) disagree with the division of the LTM into three types
-.They argued that episodic and semantic memories are stored together in one LTM store (declarative memory)