Long term memory

• semantic memory is located in the left prefrontal cortex.

  It contains our shared knowledge and is compared to a dictionary.
• Episodic memory is located in the right prefrontal cortex and can be compared to a diary. These memories are time stamped and have to make a conscious effort to remember them.
• procedural memory is located in the cerebellum. It is known as muscle memory, memory for actions skills and it is very hard to explain it to someone else.
• There is evidence supporting the different types of LTM. The case of clive wearing shows this as his episodic memory was damaged so he couldnt remember his past life. But he still knew how to play the piano (procedural) as well as still knowing some general knowledge (semantic). This supports that there are different types of LTM as only his episodic was affected.
• A strength is that there is neuroimaging evidence from brain scans to show that there are different types of LTM. Tulving made pp perform a range of tasks while their brains are scanned. THis showed the locations of the different LTM. Procedural was by the cerebellum while both episodic and semantic were by the prefrontal cortex. It has been confirmed many times that there are 3 different types of LTM
• Research into the different types of LTM has allowed psychologists to target memory to improve peoples lives. One researcher showed how episodic memories could be improved from older people who had a mild cognitive impairment. Their memory would improve after training in a control group. This shows that distinguishing between the different types of Ltm allows better treatment.