Tulving's "gold" memory study

• What was the aim of Tulving's memory study?

  To investigate blood flow differences in memory types
• What method was used in Tulving's study?

  Repeated measures design
• How many participants were involved in Tulving's study?

  Six participants
• What types of trials did participants perform in the study?

  Four episodic and four semantic trials
• What substance was injected into participants during the study?

  Radioactive gold
• What technology was used to monitor blood flow in the brain?

  PET scan
• What were the results regarding blood flow patterns?

  Different patterns in three out of six participants
• Where was greater blood flow found for semantic memories?


  In the posterior cortex
• Where was greater blood flow found for episodic memories?


  In the frontal lobe
• What conclusion was drawn from Tulving's study?


  Episodic and semantic memories are localized differently
• What does the study suggest about memory?

  Memory has a biological basis
• What is a strength of Tulving's study?


  • Produced objective scientific evidence
  • Used brain scans that are hard to fake
  • Resulted in unbiased evidence
• What is a weakness of Tulving's study regarding the sample?


  • Sample size was restricted to six participants
  • Differences seen in only three participants
  • Results were inconclusive
• What is a weakness related to the types of memory studied?


  • Episodic and semantic memories are often similar
  • Personal events contain factual knowledge
  • Difficult to determine which memory type is studied