types of LTM Flashcards
what is semantic memory
contains our shared knowledge of the world
includes knowledge of things such as how to ride a bike
memories are not time stamped
don’t usually remember when we first hear about something
what is procedural memory
memory for actions or skills or how we do things
recall these memories without conscious awareness or much effort
example - driving a car
ability to do this becomes automatic through practice
might find it hard to explain these skills to someone else
what is episodic memory
ability to recall events from our lives
time stamped - remember when they happened as well as what happened
store info on how memories relate to each other in time
have to make a conscious effort to recall
do this quickly but are aware you are searching for your memory
give one strength of types of LTM
real world application
strength- understanding types of LTM allows psychologists to help people with memory problems
example - as people age they experience memory loss
research shows - seems to be specific to episodic memory because it becomes harder to recall memories of personal events that occurred relatively recently though past episodic memories remain intact
Belleville et al - devised an intervention to improve episodic memories in older people
trained participants performed better on a test of episodic memory after training than the control group
shows that distinguishing between types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed
give one strength of types of LTM
clinical evidence
strength - evidence from, case of HM ad Clive wearing
episodic memory in both men was severely impaired due to brain damage
but semantic memory was unaffected
still understood meanings of words
procedural memory was also intact
still knew how to walk and speak
evidence supports Tulving’s view that there are different memory stores in LTM
one store can be damaged but other stores are unaffected
give one limitation on types of LTM
conflicting neuroimaging evidence
limitation - conflicting research linking to types of LTM to areas of the brain
example - Buckner and Petersen reviewed evidence regarding the location of semantic and episodic memory
concluded that semantic memory is located in the left side of the prefrontal cortex and the episodic on the right
other research links the left with encoding of episodic memories and the right to episodic retrieval - Tulving
this challenges any neruophysical evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each types might be located
