Types of long term memory

Question 1

Who created the different types of long term memory?

Answer 1

Endel Tulving (1985)
- He recognised that the MSM model was too simplistic and inflexible

Question 2

What did Tulving propose as the three types of memory?

Answer 2

• episodic memory
• semantic memory
• procedural memory

Question 3

What is episodic memory?

Answer 3

• a long term memory store to recall events from our lives
• like a diary of our daily personal lives
• they are time stamped
• include many elements such as people and places
• they require a conscious effort to recall these episodic memories

Question 4

What is semantic memory?

Answer 4

• contains our shared knowledge of the world
• this includes facts, the meanings of worlds
• these memories are not timestamped
• less vunerable to thinking and distortion than episodic memory

Question 5

What is procedural memory?

Answer 5

• memory for actions or skills
• we can recall this with minimal effort and without conscious awareness
  -for example knowing how to drive a car or ride a bike

Question 6

Identify two strengths of the types of LTM

Answer 6

1. There is clinical evidence from famous case studies of Henry Molaison and Clive Wearing.
   - their episodic memory was severly impaired however their semantic and procedural memories were unaffected as they still understood the meaning of words. This shows that there are different registers in the LTM
2. RWA. Tulvings research has helped psychologists help memory problems such as memory loss in old age which has been linked to episodic memory. Belleville designed an intervention to improve this, helping elderly people and their families and allowing specific treatments to be developed

Question 7

Describe a limitation of LTM

Answer 7

• there is conflicting evidence linking the types of LTM and areas of the brain. Buckner and Petersen reviewed evidence of the location of the episodic and semantic memory and concluded EM was on the right of the prefrontal cortex and SM was on the left. However, other research has said the contrary. This challenges any neurophysiological evidence as there is no agreement on the location of the types of LTM.