evaluation of long term memory

Cards (3)

  • What is a strength of the types of long term memory?
    The case of Clive Wearing supports different types of LTM. The case studies of Clive Wearing showed that although he had problems with his episodic memory, his semantic memories and procedural memories were intact.
  • What is a limitation of the different types of LTM?
    A limitation is that findings from case studies cannot be generalised to the wider population as they are based on individuals with unique brain damage. This is a problem because it may well be that their brain damage causes other difficulties such as paying attention, therefore they may not do well in memory tasks when being tested. Another problem is case studies cannot be replicated as this would be unethical, therefore it is difficult to test the reliability of the results to investigate if there are different types of LTM.
  • What is a strength of the explanation of different types of LTM?
    Brain scan evidence demonstrates that STM and LTM is located in different parts of the brain. Tulving et al (1994) found that the right prefrontal cortex was involved in recalling semantic memories, and the left PFC was involved in recalling episodic memories, suggesting that not only do we have different types of LTM, but also that they stem from different areas in the brain.