Tulving's Long term memory

Question 1

what is episodic memory and how is it retrieved ?

Answer 1

a long term memory system for personal events (e.g. wedding day). it includes memories when events occurred with people, objects, places or behaviours. memories from this store have to retrieved consciously and with effort.

Question 2

what is semantic memory and how is retrieved ?

Answer 2

a long term memory system for our knowledge of the world. this is includes facts and knowledge of what words and concepts mean. these memories usually have to be recalled deliberately.

Question 3

why is semantic memory so important ?

Answer 3

because it is necessary for us to understand language.

Question 4

what is a strength that supports this theory ?

Answer 4

• a strength is that the distinction between semantic and episodic memory is supported by the case study of HM.
• HM’s episodic memory was significantly impaired as a result of brain damage (he had difficulty remembering events from his past), but his semantic memory was relatively unaffected (he still understood the meaning of words).

Question 5

what is a weakness of using clinical studies to support this theory ?

Answer 5

• clinical studies lack control variables
• the studies involve people who have suffered brain damage which is usually unexpected, meaning the researcher usually doesn’t have any knowledge of the patient’s memory before then.
• this lack of control reduces the validity of clinical studies and limits what they can tell us about LTM.

Question 6

what is a weakness of this theory ?

Answer 6

• some psychologists do not accept that episodic and semantic are completely separate forms of LTM
• Tulving (2002) came to see episodic memory as a ‘specialised subcategory’ of semantic memory
• with his research into amnesia, he found that it was completely possible to have a fully functioning semantic memory but a damaged episodic memory - people can know that a past experience has happened (semantic), but they can’t re-experience them (episodic)
• it is not possible to have a fully functioning episodic memory alongside a damaged semantic memory
• this shows that the relationship between semantic and episodic is more complex than tulving originally believed

Question 7

what is application of this to improving memory ?

Answer 7

• Belleville et al (2006) worked with older people who had a mild memory impairment.
• the participants took a training programme to improve their episodic memory
• compared to a control group, these participants performed a lot better on the test
• the fact that it is possible to improve one type of LTM but not the other supports the theory that their are separate forms of LTM.
• can be used to help people with specific memory problems