Types of Long term memory Flashcards
Episodic, Semantic, Procedural
What is episodic memory?
A long term memory store for personal events. It includes memories of when the events occurred and of the people, objects, places and behaviours involved. They have to be retrieved consciously with effort.
What is semantic memory?
A long term memory store for our knowledge of the world. This includes facts and our knowledge of what words and concepts mean. These memories need to be recalled deliberately.
What is procedural memory?
A long term memory store for our knowledge of how to do things. This includes our memories of learned skills. We usually recall these memories without making a conscious or deliberate effort.
How does Clive Wearing support the idea of different types of LTM?
His episodic memory was severely damaged (couldn’t remember events), but his semantic (e.g. word meanings) and procedural memory (e.g. playing piano) remained intact.
This supports Tulving’s theory that LTM has separate stores.
What type of LTM was preserved in Clive Wearing?
Procedural memory (e.g. playing piano, reading music)
Semantic memory (e.g. understanding words)
Only episodic memory was severely impaired.
What is a weakness of using Clive Wearing’s case to study LTM?
His brain injury was unexpected, so researchers had no control over variables and no info about his memory before the damage, making it hard to measure change accurately.
Why is lack of control a problem in clinical case studies like Clive Wearing’s?
limits the validity of conclusions about memory types, since researchers can’t rule out other factors or know the full extent of the impairment.
What is a limitation of using brain scans (neuropsychology) to support types of LTM?
Studies disagree on where each type is located.
Buckner & Petersen (1996): Semantic = left, Episodic = right prefrontal cortex.
Tulving et al. (1994): Left = encoding, right = retrieval of episodic.
This inconsistency weakens brain scan evidence for separate LTM types.
How does LTM research help in real life?
It helps treat memory issues.
Belleville et al. (2006) found training improved episodic memory in older people.
This shows that knowing LTM types leads to targeted treatments.
