Tulving LTM Flashcards
what does Tulving suggest about LTM
That it is oversimplified. it has two separate forms as declarative and non declarative memories. semantic and episodic.
give details of episodic memories
they are autobiographical memories from our lives. ie a trip to the dentist. they are time-stamped so we are able to remember when they happened. they rely on semantic memories for information of places and people, to help us in recall. like a diary.
what are semantic memories.
facts and knowledge based memories. ie that the capital of England is London. you cannot remember where you learnt this - they are not time separated. like a dictionary.
what are procedural memories.
knowledge on how to do things ie maths questions. we may find them difficult to explain because we do them without conscious awareness.
give research to support. how good?
Tulving et al. asked participants to perform a memory task whilst their brains were being scanned with a PET scan. It was found that episodic memories were located in the right prefrontal cortex and semantic memories in the left. This conveys the physical reality of the separate stores in the brain.
has high internal validity as PET scan are scientific and cannot easily be manipulated. y researcher bias. they generate objective results.
however
give research against. how good.
Cohen and Squire argued that semantic and episodic memories are stored in one LTM store called declarative memory (that can be consciously recalled). Like Tulving, they still agreed that procedural memory was distinct and called it non-declarative memory. It is important to get the distinctions between these memories right as it influences memory studies and has a knock on effect on how we use it.
show how case studies support this model of memory.
case studies support their existence. Examples include the case studies of HM and Clive Wearing; they showed difficulty recalling events that had happened in their past (episodic memories) but their sematic memories were unaffected. HM couldn’t recall stroking a dog but understood the meaning of ‘dog’. Their procedural memories were also intact which supports the view that they are different types of LTM AS one can be damaged and the other can be intact.
