TULVING

Question 1

What is Tulving’s theory based on?

Answer 1

To suggest that there are different types of long-term memory - procedural memory and declarative memory

Question 2

What is procedural memory?

Answer 2

• The memory of HOW to do things.
• You may retain procedural memories even after you forgotten being taught how to do these things
• Automatic processes
• Difficult to explain, we just do it
  E.g - reading, writing, tying shoelaces, using a knife and fork

Question 3

What is declarative memory?

Answer 3

• Memory of meaningful events
• You might remember being taught to do something but not remember how to do it
• Requires a conscious effort to recall
• Split into two independent stores - semantic and episodic

Question 4

What is episodic memory?

Answer 4

• A declarative memory store
• “ a mental diary”
• Timed stamped
• Linked to context
• Perceptually encoded
• Linked to 5 senses which can trigger contextual cues (smell of something)
• autobiographical memories (details from the past) is that have an individual difference
• requires conscious effort to recall
  E.g - your last birthday, breakfast this morning…

Question 5

What is semantic memory?

Answer 5

• A declarative memory store
• “ a mental encyclopaedia”
• All the information and individual has learned about the world
• Memory tends to stay intact and not change details
• not time- stamped
• Requires conscious effort to recall
• does not rely on contextual cues - you do not need to remember the context of the situation to remember the content
  E.g - facts, knowledge, meaning of words, symbols

Question 6

What does individual difference mean?

Answer 6

• Linked to episodic memory
• Everybody has a different memory which is encoded differently for each event
• No one will remember the same thing exactly
• Different understanding of context

Question 7

Three strengths of Tulving’s theory

Answer 7

• Godden and Baddeley
• Evidence from case studies (KF or CW)
• Evidence from PET scans

Question 8

Three weaknesses of Tulving’s theory

Answer 8

• Squire and Zola (1998)
• Steyvers and Hemmer (2012)
• Evidence from dementia

Question 9

How do Godden and Baddeley support Tulving’s theory?

Answer 9

• 18 deep sea diverse learnt a list of words either underwater or on land. Half the group tried to recall the list underwater and the other half on land.
• Recall was highest when the information was recalled in the same context as they learnt the information
• They support to claim that context is important for episodic LTM as their memory was triggered by environmental cues
  (Makes the theory applicable and internally valid)

Question 10

How does evidence from case studies support Tulving’s theory?

Answer 10

• KC could not make or recall episodic memories but could recall semantic facts (couldn’t remember the death of his brother but could remember general facts)
• Clive Waring has procedural maths and semantic memory but lacks episodic memory (could not remember seeing his wife but can’t remember that it is his wife)
• Both support the claim that there are separate stores in long-term memory
  (Makes the theory credible)

Question 11

How does evidence from PET scans support Tulving’s theory?

Answer 11

• Tulving et al conducted PET scans whilst participants were doing different LTM tasks
• Episodic memory is associated with the hippocampus and medial- temporal lobes
• Semantic memory relies on the frontal lobe
• Procedural memory is linked to the cerebellum
• Showing that there are three stores located and utilise different parts of the brain - SEPARATE
  (shows that the theory is valid, credible and objective)

Question 12

How is evidence from dementia a weakness for Tulving’s theory?

Answer 12

• Damage to the temporal cortex seems to cause problems with both semantic and episodic memory
• This suggests decorative and non-decorative memory are located in the same place in the brain and may turn out to be the same thing working in different ways
  (suggest the theory lacks validity)

Question 13

How is evidence from Squire and Zola a weakness for Tulving’s theory?

Answer 13

• Examine CHILDREN with amnesia (never got a chance to develop a semantic store) an ADULTS with amnesia (who had semantic and episodic memories before suffering brain damage)
• The pps episodic and semantic memories seem to be equally impaired
• this suggests that the two memory functions are linked or even the same thing
  (this study challenges the theory’s, validity and credibility)

Question 14

How is evidence from Steyvers and Hemmer a weakness for Tulving’s theory?

Answer 14

• They suggest that it is not possible to study each form of memory separately as episodic memory relies on prior knowledge which is semantic
• This suggests that the idea two separate maybe invalid, as it is not possible to study individually, they cannot be defined in a measurable way so they cannot be objectively tested
  (it’s problematic to suggest only one store is tested - suggesting the theory lacks validity credibility)

Question 15

What are the three strengths and weakness comparison pairs in Tulving’s theory?

Answer 15

• Godden and Baddeley vs Squire and Zola
• Evidence from case studies vs Steyvers and Hemmer
• Evidence from PET scans vs Evidence from dementia

Question 16

What does Tulvings theory suggest?

Answer 16

He suggests that LTM is split into procedural and declarative memory. Declarative memory is then split into 2 sub categories, semantic and episodic. Tulvings theory is built of the MSM but suggests the LTM store it illustrates is far to reductionist, and that there is actually multiple stores within LTM

Question 17

What are the two sub-sections of decorative memory?

Answer 17

Episodic and semantic