Types of LTM

Question 1

Outline episodic memory

Answer 1

• Episodic: declarative, time-stamped, personal events, strengthened by emotions felt during coding, frontal lobe encodes and stores, hippocampus (in temporal lobe) connects different aspects of the memory
• Procedural: non-declarative therefore does not require hippocampus, motor skills, allows for multi-tasking, motor cortex and cerebellum
• Procedural: non-declarative therefore does not require hippocampus, motor skills, allows for multi-tasking, motor cortex and cerebellum

Question 2

Outline semantic memory

Answer 2

• Semantic: declarative, general knowledge, frontal lobe and temporal lobes, linked to episodic as knowledge is learnt from experience, sustained better than episodic over time

Question 3

Outline procedural memory

Answer 3

• Procedural: non-declarative therefore does not require hippocampus, motor skills, allows for multi-tasking, motor cortex and cerebellum

Question 4

What are two strengths of the theory considering the types of long term memory?

Answer 4

1.) Support from case studies: patient HM had impaired episodic memory, semantic and procedural memory unaffected, supports the distinction between the types of LTM

2.) Support from neuroimaging (brain scan) studies: Tulving scanned participants’ brains with PET scanner whilst they performed a memory task, left prefrontal cortex = semantic, right prefrontal cortex = episodic

Question 5

What are two weaknesses of the theory considering the types of long term memory?

Answer 5

1.) Lack of research: limited knowledge about brain areas involved in procedural memory as case studies into patients with impaired procedural memory ONLY is rare, thus more research is required

2.) Two vs Three types of LTM: Cohen and Squire argue episodic and semantic are in one declarative store, procedural in non-declarative store, thus more research is required to review the theory of types of LTM