Types of LTM

• How many types of LTM are there?

  3
• What are the 3 types of LTM?

  • Episodic memory
  • Semantic memory
  • Procedural memory
• Which 2 memory stores are explicit?

  Semantic and Episodic
• Which memory store is implicit?

  Procedural
• What is explicit memory?

  Conscious memory
• What is implicit memory?

  Unconscious memory, automatic
• What does episodic memory do?

  Stores events (episodes) from our lives eg. personal experiences and events
• Are episodic memories time stamped?

  yes - you remember when they happened and how they relate in time
• Episodic memories are complex, they involve several elements - people, places, objects and behaviours are woven into one memory
• What does semantic memory do?

  Stores general knowledge and facts e.g. meaning of words, taste of things
• Are semantic memories time stamped?

  no - they are less personal than episodic and more about facts/knowledge that we all share
• What does procedural memory do?

  Stores memories of how we do things e.g. riding a bike or writing
• Strength for different types of LTM:

  • Case study evidence - HM didn't have episodic memory but semantic memory was still intact same with procedural

  COUNTERPOINT

  • Researchers lack control in clinical case studies - they don't know about the person's memory before brain damage
• Limitation of different types of LTM:

  • Conflicting findings - Buckner and Petersen reviewed research findings and concluded that semantic memory is located in the left prefrontal cortex with episodic on the right
  • BUT other studies have found that semantic people was associated with the right prefrontal cortex and episodic was the left
• What did Belleville et al do?


  • Helping people with memory problems
  • Memory loss in old age links to episodic memory, devised an intervention for older people targeting episodic memory, which improved their memory compared to the control group