Types of LTM

Question 1

What are the types of LTM?

Answer 1

Tulving (1985) realised the MSM’s view of LTM was too simplistic and inflexible. He proposed that there are three types of LTM stores containing different types of memory; episodic memory, semantic memory, and procedural memory.

Question 2

What is Episodic memory?

Answer 2

-It is our ability to recall events from our lives.
-They are time-stamped (You remember when and what happened).
- Each memory of an event will include several elements; people and places, objects and behaviors, etc.
- All elements intertwine to form a single memory.

Question 3

What is Semantic memory?

Answer 3

• It is our ability to recall our knowledge of the world.
• They are not time-stamped
• It is less personal and more related to the fact we all share.
• It is less vulnerable to distortion and forgetting compared to episodic memory
• Memories from this store usually have to be retrieved deliberately.

Question 4

What is Procedural memory?

Answer 4

• It is our ability to recall our knowledge of how to perform actions.
• Our ability to perform certain actions becomes automatic through practice.
• Memories from this store are retrieved without conscious awareness or deliberate effort.

Question 5

(A03) What is a strength of the types of LTM?
(1)

Answer 5

Clinical evidence:
- The case study of HM and Clive Wearing
- Episodic memory for both men was severely impaired as a consequence of amnesia, but their other memory stores were relatively unaffected.
- This evidence supports Tulving’s view that there are different memory stores in LTM, one can be damaged but other stores are unaffected.
- Not only are these types of memory different, but they are also stored in different parts of the brain.

Question 6

(AO3) What is a strength of the types of LTM?
(2)

Answer 6

Real-world application:
- Understanding LTM allows psychologists to help people with memory problems
- Belleville et al (2006) - planned to improve episodic memory in older people in which the trained participants did better on a test of episodic memory compared to the control group.
- This is a strength because distinguishing between types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed.

Question 7

(AO3) What is the weakness of the types of LTM?

Answer 7

Problems with clinical evidence:
- Brain injuries are usually unexpected
- The researcher has no way of controlling what happened to the participant before the injury.
- This is a limitation of clinical studies, especially in amnesia, because the psychologist will have very little knowledge of what the participant’s memory was like before the injury, therefore we don’t know how much worse it is now than it was then. This limits what clinical studies can tell us about the different types of LTM