Types of LTM

Question 1

What are the 3 types of LTM?

Answer 1

Episodic memory:
- Type of explicit memory which includes memories of personal experiences.
- Contains three elements: details of the event, context and emotions which all provide one single memory.
- The strength of episodic memories is determined by the strength of the emotions felt when the memory was coded, and a conscious effort is required to retrieve them.
- Episodic memories are associated with the hippocampus

Semantic memory:
- Type of explicit memory which includes memory for knowledge, facts or concepts.
- They often start as episodic memories since we gain knowledge from our personal experiences but they are not ‘time-stamped’ or closely associated with an event.
- The strength of semantic memories depends on the strength of the emotions felt when the memory was coded.
- Semantic memories are stronger than episodic memories and are associated with the temporal lobe.

Procedural memory:
- A type of implicit memory which includes memory of how to perform tasks or skills which have become ‘automatic’
- Since they are implicit, they are difficult to explain in words to someone else. They are often acquired through repetition and practice. Many procedural memories are formed early in life.
-It is important these become like second nature to us so we can direct our attention to other everyday tasks
-Associated with the cerebellum and motor cortex.

Question 2

What are all LTM categorised as?

Answer 2

Explicit (declarative):
- include knowledge for events and facts
Implicit (non-declarative):
- include skilled behaviours which are largely unconscious.

Question 3

Evaluate LTM

Answer 3

• Support for the distinction of implicit and explicit LTM comes from the case study of patient HM by Milner 1962. Patient HM suffered from severe epilepsy so he had his hippocampus surgically removed. His STM remained intact. Patient HM was able to learn procedural (implicit) tasks but not episodic or semantic (explicit) information. He was able to learn a mirror tracing task where you copy an image while looking in a mirror and retain the skill without forgetting however he had no knowledge of previously completing the mirror-tracing task.

Question 4

LTM Evaluation: Issues & Debates

Answer 4

• The study of LTM has both a nomothetic and an idiographic approach because it attempts to generate universal laws of cognitive process including our different types of LTM, but it also uses case studies e.g. Patient HM
• The case studies are examples of socially sensitive research which is why HM’s identity was kept hidden. It could be argued that the same protection should have been given to Clive Wearing.