Types of LTM Flashcards
What is episodic memory?
Personal memories of events; includes contextual details and emotional tone e.g. your first day of school
What is semantic memory?
Shared memories for facts and knowledge e.g. 2+2=4 or the function of an object (knowledge about the world, shared by everyone) - typically begin as episodic but slowly loses it association to a particular event and so becomes generalised as a semantic memory
What is procedural memory?
Memory of how to do things, such memories are automatic as the result of repeated practice
How is long term memory divided? and what do they mean?
- Explicit (declarative)
- Implicit (or procedural)
The distinction is between knowing that and knowing how
How do brain scans support the idea there is different types of LTM?
-Episodic memory is associated with hippocampus + other parts of temporal lobe
-Semantic memory also relies on temporal lobe
-Procedural memory is associated with the cerebellum (involved in control of motor skills and the motor cortex)
This demonstrates there are three types of memory as they are associated with different parts of the brain
What evidence is there from case studies for different LTMs?
HM - his ability to form new LTMs was affected by the destruction of his hippocampus but he retained pre-existing LTMs. However, he could still form new procedural memories e.g. he learnt how to draw a figure by looking at its reflection in a mirror (mirror-drawing) - he had no memory of learning this however.
This supports the distinctions
What is the problem with using patients with brain damage as evidence?
Difficult to be certain of the exact parts of the brain that have been affected until a patient has died. Most studies are conducted on living people - damage to one area of Brain does not mean it that area is responsible for behaviour - may be acting as a relay station (malfunction of system may impair performance)
Why might the original theory of LTM be too simplistic?
Spiers et al (2001) suggested there is a fourth type of LTM, the perceptual-representation system related to priming e.g. if told the word yellow and then asked to pick a fruit, individual is more likely to pick banana than if not primed (type of implicit memory). Priming is controlled by a brain system separate to the temporal system (which supports explicit memories)
