Tulving's explanation of LTM

Question 1

What does Tulving Theorise?

Answer 1

Tulving made this theory in 1972
he basically just had detailed data that distinguishes episodic and semantic memories
Differences are:
- the operation
- types of information to be processed
Similarities are:
- both are part of declarative memory (or explicit memory + its basically consist of facts and events)

Question 2

What is Semantic Memories?

Answer 2

located = frontal/temporal cortex

• its general knowledge (e.g. names of city’s, popular clothes brand, well known eat outs)
• can also be the meaning of words
• can come from episodic memories
• its a mental encyclopedia

Question 3

What is Episodic Memories?

Answer 3

located = hippocampus

• its autobiography (its personal and its your own perception of it or a mental diary) e.g. going to class for the first time
• those memories are linked to the time and context they took place
• can be easily distorted, an examples is an adaments person’s opinion
• needs to go to semantic memories first then episodic

Question 4

How is Semantic Memories encoded?

Answer 4

• acoustically encoded
• not organised like episodic
• memories can be encoded from episodic

Question 5

How is Episodic Memories encoded?

Answer 5

• perceptually encoded (uses all forms of encoding)

- stores in temporal link (when/time) and spatial link (the input information from experiences)

Question 6

How is Semantic Memories retrieved?

Answer 6

• doesn’t need to be learned
• understanding the rules of the concept is enough
• cues not needed but can be used
  e. g. a red light, you will always stop as you know that it means stop as you understand the rule behind it

Question 7

How is Episodic Memories retrieved?

Answer 7

• uses cues that are encoded at the point of learning
• uses prior knowledge to access the memory
  e. g. when meeting someone for the first time, they wore specific clothes and if they wore it again in the future you will remember that they wore that when you first met them

Question 8

How is Semantic Memories forgotten?

*work on this find the proper answer later - the answer being shown is only a partial piece of the whole answer

Answer 8

memory trace is strong and less susceptible to transformation.
e.g. 2+2=4 that will always remain the same because it has been continuously and mathematically proven to be correct

Question 9

How is Episodic Memories forgotten?

Answer 9

Retrieval cue failure

• memories can be changed/ distorted in content as linked to previous memories
  e. g. going out on a night out and getting drunk, then you wake up and forgot everything

Question 10

How does Temporal link and Spatial link relate to Semantic memories?

Answer 10

(temporal link) 1. independent to time referencing
(spatial link) 2. the input is fragmentary (piece together factual info that has been learned in the different points of time)

Question 11

How does Temporal link and Spatial link related to Episodic memories?

Answer 11

(temporal link) 1. it depends upon the time and context
(spatial link) 2. input is continuous (experience whole episodes in some temporal frame of reference e.g. experiencing a birthday party)