types of long-term memory

• what are the 3 types of LTM?


  semantic memory

  episodic memory

  procedural memory
• semantic memory...


  general knowledge/facts
• what is an example of semantic memory?


  paris is the capital city of france
• episodic memory...


  personal, time-stamped events
• what is an example of episodic memory?


  my GCSE results day
• procedural memory...


  "muscle" memory/motor skill
• what is an example of procedural memory?


  riding a bike
• clive wearing...


  was a world-class conductor and musician whose hippocampus was damaged by a virus in 1985 - giving him severe amnesia

  couldn't form any new LTM memories - however could still remember how to play the piano to a professional standard

  knew who is wife was, but couldn't remember when he last saw her (even if it had been a few minutes prior)
• HM...


  had his hippocampus removed due to his severe epilepsy

  could not form any new LTM memories (example = could remember what a dog was but not stroking it a minute ago)

  was able to learn how to use a computer
• what do the case studies of clive wearing and HM do?

  provide evidence for different types of LTM - different stores of LTM must exist in seperate memory stores
• what is a limitation of clinical case studies?


  they are very unique cases and so cannot be generalised

  lack of control variables

  impossible to know what was occuring in the brain/memory prior to any damage - therefore, it's difficult to tell how much memory has changed
• buckner and peterson (1996)...


  reviewed evidence regarding location of semantic and episodic memory

  • semantic memory = left pre-frontal cortex
  • episodic memory = right pre-frontal cortex
• tulving et al (1994)...


  found the opposite to buckner and peterson, thus challenging the accuracy of both of their studies

  • semantic memory = right pre-frontal cortex
  • episodic memory = left pre-frontal cortex
• belleville et al (2006)...


  devised intervention to improve episodic memory in old people

  trained participants performed better than the control group

  demonstrates that distinguishing between types of LTM allows for specific treatment to be developed