Types of Long Term Memory

• What did Tulving realize about the multi-store model of memory?

  It was too simplistic and inflexible
• How many stores for long-term memory did Tulving propose?

  3 stores
• What are the three stores of long-term memory proposed by Tulving?

  • Episodic Memory
  • Semantic Memory
  • Procedural Memory
• What is episodic memory?

  Our ability to recall events from our lives
• What characteristic do episodic memories have?

  They are time-stamped
• What must happen for episodic memories to be retrieved?

  They must be retrieved consciously and with effort
• How do elements of episodic memories interact?

  All elements intertwine to form a single memory
• What is semantic memory?

  Our ability to recall our knowledge of the world
• How are semantic memories different from episodic memories?

  They are not time-stamped
• Why is semantic memory less vulnerable to distortion?

  It is more related to shared facts
• How are memories from semantic memory usually retrieved?

  They usually have to be retrieved deliberately
• What is procedural memory?

  Our ability to recall how to perform actions
• How does practice affect procedural memory?

  It makes actions become automatic
• How are memories from procedural memory retrieved?

  They are retrieved without conscious effort
• What is the real-world application of understanding long-term memory?

  • Helps psychologists assist people with memory issues
  • Enables specific treatments to be developed
• What did Belleville et al (2006) aim to improve?

  Episodic memory in older people
• What was the outcome of Belleville et al's study?

  Trained participants did better on episodic memory tests
• What do the case studies of HM and Clive Wearing demonstrate?

  Presence of separate memory stores
• How was episodic memory affected in HM and Clive Wearing?

  It was severely damaged
• What limitation exists when studying people with brain injuries?

  Lack of control over prior events
• What does the lack of control in brain injury studies limit?

  It limits understanding of memory types
• What did Buckner & Peterson (1996) conclude about memory locations?

  Semantic memory is stored in the left prefrontal cortex
• What conflicting evidence exists regarding memory storage locations?

  Disagreement on encoding and retrieval locations
• How does conflicting neuroimaging evidence challenge memory theories?

  It shows poor agreement on memory locations
• What is a strength for Tulving’s Stores of Long Term Memory?

  Real World Application

  • Understanding long term memory allows psychologists to help people with memory problems
  • Belleville et al (2006) planned to improve episodic memory in older people in which the trained participants did better on a test of episodic memory compared to the control group
  • This shows that distinguishing between types of long term memory enables specific treatments to be developed
• What is a strength for Tulving’s Stores of Long Term Memory?

  Supporting Evidence

  • Evidence from the case studies of HM and Clive Wearing show the presence of separate stores
  • Episodic memory was severely damaged in both men due to brain damage but their other memory stores were relatively unaffected
  • This evidence supports Tulving’s view that there are different memory stores in the long term memory, as one store can be damaged but other stores are unaffected
• What is a limitation for Tulving’s Stores of Long Term Memory?

  Lack of Control

  • Studying people with brain injuries can help researchers to understand how memory is supposed to work normally, but brain injuries are usually unexpected
  • The researcher has no way of controlling what happened to the participant prior to or during the injury, but without this it is difficult to judge exactly how much worse it is afterwards
  • This lack of control limits what clinical studies can tell us about different types of long term memory
• What is a limitation for Tulving’s Stores of Long Term Memory?

  Conflicting Neuroimaging Evidence

  • Peterson et al (1996) reviewed evidence about the location of semantic and episodic memory and found that semantic memory is stored on the left prefrontal cortex and episodic memory is on the right
  • Other research claims that the left prefrontal cortex is for the encoding of episodic memories and the right prefrontal cortex is for retrieval of episodic memories
  • This challenges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on the location of each type