Types of long term memory Flashcards
Who proposed the idea of three long-term memory stores?
Endel Tulving
Tulving proposed this in 1985.
What are the three types of long-term memory proposed by Tulving?
- Episodic memory
- Semantic memory
- Procedural memory
What does episodic memory refer to?
The ability to recall events from our lives
Episodic memory is likened to a diary of personal experiences.
What are the key features of episodic memory?
- Time-stamped
- Includes several elements
- Requires conscious effort to recall
What does it mean for episodic memories to be ‘time-stamped’?
You remember when the events happened as well as what happened
Provide examples of episodic memories.
- Recent visit to the dentist
- A gig from last week
- Psychology class yesterday
- Breakfast this morning
What is semantic memory compared to?
A combination of an encyclopaedia and a dictionary
What type of knowledge does semantic memory contain?
- Shared knowledge of the world
- Facts we all share
How is semantic memory different from episodic memory?
Semantic memory is not ‘time-stamped’ and is less personal
What is an example of semantic memory?
Knowledge of what an orange tastes like
What is procedural memory?
Memory for actions or skills, or how we do things
How do we recall procedural memories?
Without conscious awareness or much effort
Give an example of a procedural memory.
Driving a car
What happens to procedural memory through practice?
It becomes automatic
True or False: You need to consciously think about every action when driving a car after practice.
False
Strengths of LTM tulving
Clinical evidence HM and Clive wearing
Clive had a damaged episodic memory however his procedural memory was still intact as he could play piano
Real world application- psychologists can help episodic memory loss in older people
Limitation of LTM
Brain injury means that researcher had no idea how the participantd memory was before the injury
Conflicting neuroimaging evidence Buckner and petersen found that semantic is located in the left side of the prefrontal cortex and episodic is located on the right this is the opposite of what Tulving brlieved. This challenges the validity as there is poor agreement
