Types of Long Term Memory Flashcards
define episodic memory:
- long term memory store for personal events
- includes memories of when the the event occurred and the people, places, objects and behaviours
-memories form this store have to be retrieved consciously with effort
define semantic memory:
-long term memory store for our knowledge of the world
- includes facts + knowledge of what words and concepts mean
-these memories usually need to be recalled deliberately
define procedural memory:
long term memory store for our knowledge of how to do things
includes our memories of learned skills
usually recall without making a conscious/deliberate effort
what did Tulving 1985 realise?
one of the 1st cognitive psychologists to realise the multi store model’s view of long term memory was too simplistic and inflexible
Tulving proposed that there are three LTM stores containing different types of info
episodic, semantic and procedural
what is episodic memory?
refers to ability to recall events from our lives
-likened to a diary , the memories are complex
- the memories are ‘time stamped’- you remember when they happened and what happened
- episodic memories also store info about how events relate to each other in time
- memories of a single episode includes several elements - people, places behaviours, objects. all these memories are interwoven to produce a single memory
-you have to make a conscious effort to recall episodic memories
-this is done quickly but you are still aware that you are searching for the memory of what happened
what is semantic memory
- contains shared knowledge of the world
- likened to an encyclopaedia / dictionary
- includes knowledge of what food tastes like, meaning of words etc
- semantic memory contains your knowledge of an impressive number of concepts such as animals, love etc
- these memories are not time stamped (don’t usually remember when you heard about a new film for the first time)
- semantic knowledge is less personal and more about facts
- it has an extensive collection of material which is constantly being added to
what is semantic memory according to Tulving?
it is less vulnerable to distortion and forgetting than episodic memory
what is procedural memory?
- memory for actions/ skills and how we do things
-recall these memories without conscious awareness or much effort
-e.g. driving a car
- our ability to do this becomes automatic through practice
- these sort of things we might find difficult to explain to someone else
what is a clinical evidence strength?
evidence from the famous case studies of Henry Molaison and Clive Wearing
- both had severely impaired memory due to brain damage from operation/infection
- their semantic memories were quite unaffected , they understood meaning of words
-e.g. HM could not recall stroking a dog half and hour before the accident but knew what the concept of a dog was
-their procedural memories were also intact - they could walk, speak
-Clive wearing - a professional musician could still read music , sing and play the piano
this evidence supports Tulving’s view that there are difference memory stores in Long term memory, one can be damaged and other stores can be unaffected
what is a counterpoint?
- studying people with brain injuries helps researchers understand how memory is supposed to work
but clinical studies have a lack of control of variables
brain injuries are usually unexpected, so the researcher has no knowledge of the individuals memory before the damage
without this is is difficult to judge how much worse it is afterwards
this lack of control limits what clinical studies can tell us about different types of LTM
what is a conflicting neuroimaging evidence limitation?
there are conflicting research findings liking types of LTM to area of the brain
what did Buckner and Peterson 1996 do?
reviewed evidence regarding the location of semantic and episodic memory
they conclude semantic memory is located in the left side of the prefrontal cortex
episodic memory is on the right
but other research links the prefrontal cortex with encoding episodic memories and the right prefrontal cortex with episodic retrieval - Tulving 1994
this challenges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each type might be located
real world application strength?
understanding types of LTM allow psychologists to help people with memory problems
- e.g. people age , they experience memory loss
but research shows that this is episodic memory - becomes hard to recall memories of personal events/ experiences that happen in the past but recent episodic memories stay intact
Sylvie Belleville 2006?
she devised and intervention to improve episodic memories in older people
trained participants performed better on a test of episodic memory after training than a control group
this shows that distinguishing between types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed
Tulving 2002 episodic memory is ‘specialised subcategory’
Tulving thinks that episodic memory is ‘specialised subcategory’ of semantic memory
his research shows that some people with amnesia have functioning semantic memory alongside a damages episodic memory
he also concluded that it is not possible to have functioning episodic memory with damaged semantic memory
