Types of Long-Term Memory Flashcards
what are episodic memories?
stores events from our lives - likened to a diary
they are complex - they are time-stamped (you remember when they happened and how they relate in time)
the involve several elements - people, places, objects and behaviours woven into one memory
you have to make a conscious effort to recall them
what are semantic memories?
stores for our knowledge of the world
like a combination of an encyclopaedia and dictionary
they are not time-stamped and they are less personal than episodic memories and more about facts/ knowledge that we share
what is procedural memory?
memories of how we do things
recall occurs without conscious awareness or effort - these actions/ skills become automatic with practice
explaining step by step procedure is hard because you do it without conscious recall
Strength - case study evidence for different types of Long term memory
clinical studies of amnesia - (HM and Clive Wearing) showed both had difficulty recalling events that had happened to them in their past (episodic memory)
but their semantic memory was relatively unaffected
e.g. HM did not need the concept of a ‘dog’ to be explained to him
procedural memories were still intact - Clive Wearing could still play the piano
this supports the view that there are different memory stores in the LTM because one store can be damaged but other stores left unaffected
counterpoint - to the case study evidence
researchers had lack of control in clinical case studies - they do not know anything about the person’s memory before brain damage
therefore clinical studies are limited in what they can tell us about different types of long term memory
Limitation - conflicting findings about types of LTM and brain areas
Buckner and Petersen reviewed research findings and concluded that semantic memory is located in the left prefrontal cortex and episodic with the right prefrontal cortex
But other studies (Tulving) have found that semantic memory was associated with the right prefrontal cortex and the reverse for episodic memory
this challenges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each type might be located
Strength - helping people with memory problems
memory loss in old age is specific to episodic memory - harder to recall memories of recent experiences though past episodic memories are intact
Belleville devised an intervention for older people, targeting episodic memory, which improved their memory compared to the control groups
this shows that distinguishing between types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed
extra
more recently, Tulving has said episodic memory is a ‘specialised’ subcategory of semantic - an intact semantic memory can function with a damaged episodic but not vice versa
However, Hodges and Patterson found that some patients with Alzheimer’s disease can form new episodic memories but not semantic ones
therefore episodic and semantic memories are closely related but ultimately different forms of LTM
