Tulving’s gold memory study (NS)

• What did Tulving believe about long-term memory?

  It is split into different parts or types
• What method did Tulving use to test his idea about memory?

  A form of PET scan
• What radioactive substance was used in Tulving's study?

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

  To see blood flow differences in memory types
• How many volunteers participated in Tulving's research?

  Six
• What design did Tulving's study use?

  Repeated measures design
• What type of tasks did participants perform in Tulving's study?

  Episodic and semantic tasks
• What did the episodic tasks involve?

  Thinking about personal experiences
• What did the semantic tasks involve?

  Recalling historical facts from memory
• What did Tulving find regarding blood flow patterns?

  Differences for episodic and semantic memories
• Where was greater blood flow observed for semantic memories?

  Back of the brain
• Where was greater blood flow observed for episodic memories?

  Front of the brain
• What do Tulving's conclusions suggest about memory types?

  They are separate forms of long-term memory
• What does Tulving's study support about memory?

  It has a biological basis
• What are the key differences between episodic and semantic memory?

  • Episodic memory: personal experiences and events
  • Semantic memory: facts and general knowledge
• What are the main findings of Tulving's study?

  • Blood flow differs for episodic and semantic memories
  • Episodic memories activate the anterior cortex
  • Semantic memories activate the posterior cortex
• what evaluation points can be made from this study?

  + objective evidence

  difficult to fake brain scans, producing unbiased evidence

  — problems with sample

  six participants, including Tulving, and conclusion based on three

  — different types of memory?

  episodic and semantic memories hard to separate, inconclusive evidence
• how many trials took place?

  four semantic and four episodic memory trials
• how many participants reported different blood flow?

  three out of six