Types Of LTM

Question 1

Episodic Memory

Answer 1

Episodic memories are memories for past events or experiences that have happened to us, Which we have to conscious remember.
They are created by personally experiencing something.
They are usually associated with the times and places we did things and our emotions about the event.
They can be easily forgotten.
Examples include: what you had for breakfast, a trip to the dentist, family holiday

Question 2

Semantic Memory

Answer 2

Semantic memories are memories for learnt facts and information, which we always have to consciously remember.
They are created by having learnt information or general knowledge, such as facts.
We do not tend to recall the time and place we learnt them.
They can be easily forgotten.
Examples include: what an orange tastes like, the meaning of words, your address

Question 3

Procedural Memory

Answer 3

Procedural memories are memories of how to perform skills and actions, which become unconscious over time.
They are created by repeated an activity multiple times.
We find it difficult to explain to someone else because we recall them without conscious awareness.
They are resistant to forgetting.
Examples include: how to ride a bike, how to swim, how to change gear when driving.

Question 4

Strength 1

Answer 4

A strength of explanations for separate types of long term memories is that there is convincing research to support them
From studies of different parts of brain.
Tulving (1994) found that episodic and semantic memories were both associated with the prefrontal cortex; episodic memories were recalled from the right prefrontal cortex and semantic memories were recalled from the left.
This suggests that the different types of LTM are physically represented in different parts of the brain, therfore they must be separate types.

Question 5

Strength 2

Answer 5

A strength of explanations for separate types of long term memories is that there is convincing research to support them from the case studies of HM and Clive Wearing.
Both individuals struggled to recall events that had happened to them suggesting a problem with episodic memories however, their semantic memories were unaffected.
This supports the view that there are different memory stores in LTM as it is possible to damage on store without affecting the other.
However, due to the nature of case studies and the lack of control of variables e.g. the exact location of brain damage or personality, it can be difficult to generalise and understand exactly how LTM works.

Question 6

Strength 3

Answer 6

A further strength of explanations for separate types of long term memories is that they have led to practical applications.
For example, Belleville et al (2006) found that episodic memories could be improved in older people with mild cognitive impairment.
They found that trained participants performed better on a test of episodic memory after training than a control group.
This highlights the benefit of being able to distinguish between different types of long term memory as it allows for specific treatments to be developed.

Question 7

Limitation 1

Answer 7

However, a limitation of explanations for separate types of long term memories is that there may only be two types of LTM.
Cohen and Squire (1980) disagreed with Tulving’s approach
And argued that episodic and semantic memories were both stored together in one store which they called declarative memory (memories which can be consciously recalled), but agreed that procedural memories are different and referred to as non-declarative memories.
This suggests that there are only two main rules of LTM, not three and they declarative and non-declarative memories.