Types of Long Term Memory

• Who developed this theory?

  Tulving
• When was this theory developed?

  1985
• Why was this theory created?

  Realisation over the MSM's rendition of LTM being oversimplified.
• What are the Three stars of of LTM?

  Episodic, Semantic, and Procedural
• Define Episodic Memory

  A LTM store for personal events. It includes memories for when the events occurred and of the people, objects, places and, behaviours involved.
• Are Episodic Memories time stamped?

  They are, you remember when they happened, as well as what happened.
• What are Episodic memories made up of?

  A single episode will include several elements, such as people, places, objects, and behaviours. All of these are interwoven to produce a single memory.
• Is there a need for effort to recall Episodic memories?

  You have to make a conscious effort to recall episodic memories. It's quick, but you are still searching for the memory.
• Define Semantic Memory

  A LTM store for our knowledge of the world. This includes facts and our knowledge of what words and concepts mean.
• Are Semantic memories time stamped?

  No, we don't remember when we learned these facts or behaviours.
• What do Semantic memories contain?

  Semantic knowledge is less personal and more about facts we all share. it contains an immense collection of materials, which is constantly growing.
• Do semantic memories require conscious effort?

  Yes, we need to remember these memories deliberately.
• Define Procedural Memory

  A LTM store for our knowledge of how to do things, this includes our memories of learned skills.
• Are Procedural Memories Time-stamped?

  No, they are not timestamped we do not recall when we learnt this skill or was involved in the memory.
• What do Procedural memories contain?

  Skills we have acquired through our life, such as tying a shoe lace.
• Do procedural memories require conscious effort

  No, our ability becomes automatic, we don't realise we a re doing it. They are unconscious processes.
• Who is Clive Wearing?

  Has a severe form of amnesia that resulted from a viral infection that attacked his brain, damaging the hippocampus and associated areas.
• How does Clive Wearing support the types of LTM?

  He has a damaged episodic memory but his procedural and semantic memory seemed intact. Proving that there are different stores for LTM.
• AO3, Limitation - counterpoint to CW

  A case study is not representative of everyone.

  Studies his brain with clinical studies, lack of control of variables, it is difficult to judge how exactly his memory has been damaged, the lack of control limits what clinical studies can tell us about LTM.
• AO3, Limitation - Conflicting Neuroimaging Evidence

  different research findings linking to types of LTM to areas of the brain, a study shows that semantic memory is located in the prefrontal cortex and episodic in the right, but other research shows that the left prefrontal cortex is where episodic is coded, but the right prefrontal cortex is where episodic retrieval.
• AO3, Strength - RWA

  help with memory problems, as people age, they experience memory loss, but research shows that this seems specific to episodic memory, becomes harder to recall personal experiences. A study devised an intervention to improve episodic memories in older people, after the training, they improved on a test. enables specific treatments developed.
• AO3, Strength - Neuroimaging evidence

  Different types of memory are stored in different parts of the brain, but memories are generally stored in the frontal lobe. Tulving et al got participants to perform episodic and semantic memory tasks whilst in a PET scanner. They found that episodic and semantic were both recalled from the prefrontal cortex, these are aisplit into two (left, semantic and right, episodic) This i a strength as it shows the existinence of two or three of the LTM types, supporting idea that different LTM types are stored in different parts of the brain.
• AO3, Limitation - confirmation bias

  Research support conducted by Tulving and LTM theory developed by Tulving, evidence that supports his own theory - bias.
• AO3, Limitation - conflicting evidence

  Bunker and petersen (1996) reviewed research regarding the location of semantic and episodic memory and noticed that in some of Tulving's other research highlighted that.

  • The left prefrontal cortex is associated with the encoding of episodic memories
  • The right prefrontal cortex is associated with the retrieval of episodic memories

  Therefore, a limitation as it shows that there is little neurological agreement regarding the location of the types of LTM.