types of long term memory Flashcards
who proposed the three LTM stores
Tulving,
what where the three LTM stores
episodic, semantic and procedural.
what is episodic memory
the ability to recall events from our lives.
they are complex and time stamped.
what do you remember in episodic memory
when they happens, how they relate in time.
what elements are involved in episodic memory
people, place, objects and behaviours.
but we have to make a conscious effort to recall them.
what is semantic memory
our shared knowledge of the world
eg: capital of Paris.
not time stamped, less personal and more about facts and knowledge we share.
constantly being added to and less vulnerable to distortion.
what is procedural memory
our memory for action or skill, how we do things.
eg driving a car and sports.
how dose recall occur in procedural memory
with ought much conscious awareness.
become automatic with practise.
one strength of different types of LTM
case study evidence
Clinical studies of amnesia (HM and Clive Wearing) showed both had difficulty recalling events that had happened to them in their pasts (episodic memory)
their semantic memories were relatively unaffected - e.g. HM did not need the concept of a ‘dog’ explained to him
procedural memories were also still intact
strength because this evidence supports the view that there are different memory stores in LTM because one store can be damaged but other stores are unaffected.
one limitation of LTM
conflicting findings about types of LTM and brain areas.
Buckner and Petersen (1996)
reviewed research findings and concluded that semantic memory is located in the left prefrontal cortex and episodic with the right prefrontal cortex.
other studies (e.g. Tulving et al., 1994) - other studies (e.g. Tulving et al., 1994
another strength of LTM.
understanding types of LTM allows psychologists to help people with memory problems.
Memory loss in old age appears to be specific to episodic memory: harder to recall memories of recent experiences, although past episodic memories are intact.
Belleville et al. (2006): devised an intervention for older people targeting episodic memory, which improved their memory compared to a control group.
