LTM

• TYPES OF LTM


  There are different types of LTM :

  • episodic
  • semantic
  • procedural
• Procedural LTM

  • the type of LTM used for performing actions, tasks and skills, e.g. riding a bike
  • performed with little conscious effort (also known as implicit memory)
  • many are developed early in life
  • allows us to perform tasks at the same time that require attention

  Parts of the brain linked

  • stored in primary motor cortext
  • sent to cerebellum
  • does not need hippocampus to function
• Episodic LTM


  • types of LTM for events occuring in an individual's life, e.g. rememering where you went on holiday last summer

  Parts of the brain linked:

  • initial coding carried out in prefrontal cortex
  • memories of different parts of an event are stored in different areas of the brain but are connected together by the hippocampus to create an episode rather than a collection of separate memories
• Semantic LTM


  • type of LTM for facts, meanings, concepts, e.g. recalling that the capital of Kenya is Nairobi
  • a deep processing of information at coding leads to an easier recall

  Parts of the brain linked :

  • coding - frontal or temporal lobes
  • language areas in the left hemisphere cortex
  • uses hippocampus
• A03


  Supporting evidence- brain scans

  • Tulving (1989)
  • Ps were injected with a small amount of radioactive gold and asked to recall episodic and semantic memories
  • differences were found in the area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex
  • greater activation in anterior frontal lobes during recall of episodic memory and in posterior frontal lobes during recall of semantic memory
  • this suggests that they involve different areas and so are in different forms

  BUT only 3/6 Ps showed a difference and Tulving himself was a P as well as his wife and another colleague- unreliable and not generalisable.
• A03


  Supporting evidence - case studies

  • Clive Wearing suffered a rare brain infection that destroyed the hippocampus (used for memory) and areas of the cortext
  • He can speak, walk and play music but cannot remember memories of his earlier life
  • He cannot make new memories or transfer between LTM and STM
  • When his wife enters the room for the third time, he embraces her as if he hadnt seen her in years
  • Evidence for different stores as he can still do procedural tasks, which do not involve hippocampus