types of long - term memory

Question 1

who was the first to propose the idea that LTM had more than one store

Answer 1

Endel Tulving (1985 )was one of the first cognitive psychologists to realise the multi - store models view of LTM was too simplistic and inflexible .

He proposed that there are in fact three LTM stores containing quite different types of info

Question 2

what are the three different stores in the LTM

Answer 2

1. episodic memory
2. semantic memory
3. procedural memory

Question 3

what is the episodic memory

Answer 3

episodic memory refers to our ability to recall events (episodes) from our lives

It has been likened to a diary, a record of daily happenings e.g. your most recent visit to the dentist, the psychology class you had yesterday

these memories are complex

Question 4

what does it mean when we say that episodic memories are time - stamped

Answer 4

essentially it means that we remember when the memories happened e.g. recently or last week or this morning

Question 5

what are the different elements involved in episodic memories

Answer 5

an episodic memory will contain several elements such as people and places, objects and behaviours, and all of them are interwoven to produce a single memory

Question 6

how do we recall episodic memories

Answer 6

you have to make a conscious effort to recall episodic memories.

You may be able to do so quickly, but you are still aware that you are searching for your memory of what happened when you went to the dentist ( for example)

Question 7

what is semantic memory

Answer 7

semantic memory contains our knowledge of the world - it includes facts, but in the broadest possible sense

This type of memory has often been likened to a combination of an encyclopedia and a dictionary (basic knowledge)
e.g. what zombies like for dinner, meaning of words

your semantic memory contains your knowledge of an impressive number of concepts such as “animals”

you don’t remember when you learned the info

Question 8

what is procedural memory

Answer 8

procedural memory is the memory of actions, or skills

-basically it was how we do things

Question 9

how can we recall procedural memories

Answer 9

we can recall these memories without conscious awareness of a great deal of effort

Question 10

how can we recall semantic memories

Answer 10

we can recall semantic memories consciously

Question 11

what is an example of a procedural memories

Answer 11

driving a car depends on procedural memory
- we change our gears without recall how

These skill are quite hard to explain to someone esle