TYPES OF LONG-TERM MEMORY

• Who proposed the theory for types of LTM?

  TULVING in (1972)
• Episodic Memory:

  • Events from our lives 
  • Memories are ‘time-stamped’ - can remember when they happened
  • Includes ‘several elements’ people, places, objects, behaviours all into a single memory
  • Have to consciously recall them 
• Semantic Memory:

  • Memory for facts / concepts
  • NOT “time-stamped”
  • Declarative e.g. Capital of France- Paris
• Procedural Memory:

  • Memory for actions, skills, how we do things
  • Can recall these memories- without conscious awareness
  • Beginning- things are difficult but over time become 2nd nature  
• Strength- Supporting Evidence for different types of LTM: (PEET)

  • Clive Wearing- suffered viral infection
  • Suffered from damage to LTM- struggled to remember semantic & episodic memories -> could still remember procedural memories e.g. how to play piano 
  • Furthermore, brain scans are empirical, objective data obtained. This increases the scientific credibility of the types of LTM- factual data 
• Weakness- Contradictory Evidence for different types of LTM 

  • Research on Clive Wearing and HM- rare case studies
  • Lacks generalisability due to subjective experiences
• Strength- research conducted has usefulness in today’s world:

  • Belleville et al (2006) demonstrated how episodic memory can be improved in older people with mild cognitive impairment
  • Lead to treatments to improve specific types of LTM
  • Increases validity: practical application in real-world