Types Of Long Term Memory Flashcards
What did Tulving propose about LTM?
That there are 3 stores:
Episodic memory
Semantic memory
Procedural memory
What does episodic memory refer to?
What are some key features?
Our ability to recall events from our lives
Time stamped
Personal
Have to make a conscious effort to remember them
What does semantic memory refer to?
What are some key features?
Our shared knowledge of the world
Not time stamped
Less personal
What does procedural memory refer to?
What are some key features?
Memory for our actions/skills/how we do things
Can be recalled without conscious awareness
Can be hard to explain to other people
Examples of episodic memory
Your friends wedding
Your first day at school
Examples of semantic memory
The words of a song
Where the Eiffel Tower is
Examples of procedural memory
How to ride a bike
How to swim
Evaluate the types of long term memory
Strengths:
Clinical evidence to support HM and Clive wearing
Understanding the types of memory allows psychologists to help people with memory problems
Weaknesses:
Studying people with brain injuries lacks control variables. The researcher is unable to study memory before/during the accident so they are unable to see how much worse it was after
There is conflicting research as to where these stores are located. Buckner and Petersen concluded that semantic memory is located on the left side of the prefrontal cortex and episodic on the right, however, Tulving has different positioning. — weakness as there is poor agreement
How can Clive wearing be used to support the different types of long term memory?
Clive wearing suffered a viral infection that caused brain damage. This caused him to lose most of his memories and be unable to produce new long term memories.
He suffered severe damage to his episodic memory as he couldn’t remember personal events in his life
He had partial semantic memory as he could remember facts but no further details
His procedural memory was mostly intact as he retained his ability to play piano
This supports Tulvings view that there is more than one type of LTM as one store can be damaged and another can be unaffected
