Types of LTM

• what is non-declarative long-term memory?

  implicit/unconscious. you can't consciously answer questions about; explaining individual steps is difficult.
• what is one example of non-declarative LTM?

  procedural.
• what is declarative long-term memory?

  explicit/conscious. knowledge you can answer questions about.
• what are the 2 examples of declarative LTM?

  episodic & semantic.
• what is procedural memory?

  knowledge about how you do things, the skills you have, e.g. riding a bike.

  • once you acquire a skill, then you won't need to think about how to do it.
• what is semantic memory?

  made up of the things that you know, e.g. capital cities, trivia.

  • knowledge in semantic memory is arranged hierarchally, means we make connections berween all the info we have.
  • you don't need to know when & you learnt this info.
• what is episodic memory?

  related to a specific time & place.

  • remembering the event.
  • remembering the context.
  • remembering the emotion.
• what are the types of episodic memory?

  • autobiographical = memories about specific life events.
  • flashbulb memories = detailed & vivid memories about an event (life-changing autobiographical events, historical events).
• evidence for multiple types of LTM- clive wearing:

  • had procedural memory (intact), hence why he could play piano- but the same piece- over and over again.
  • had some semantic knowledge.
  • however, had no episodic memory, due to damaged STM (can't form new episodic memory).
  • LTM- there are diff types, not a unitary system.
  • his hippocampus was damaged, linking episodic memory to hippocampus and procedural memory elsewhere.
• evidence for multiple types of LTM- HM:

  • had epilepsy, so hippocampus was removed.
  • could still form new memories but not episodic or semantic (due to removal of hippocampus). procedural wasn't affected.
  • was able to learn how to draw a figure by looking at its reflection in a mirror, however, he had no memory that he learnt this.
  • STM and older LTM memories not affected.
• what did tulving (1985) say?

  realised that the MSM was too simplistic & inflexible, proposed the 3 main types of LTM; semantic, episodic & procedural.
• neuroimaging evidence:

  MRI scans show which parts of the brain are being used when certain tasks are carried out.
• what did tulving et al. (1994) find using a PET scan?

  this finding strongly supports the idea that there is a physical reality to the diff types of LTM within the brain.

  
• where is the prefrontal cortex?

  front of the brain. it's divided into two, one part in each hemisphere of the brain.
• what is anterograde amnesia?

  inability to form new memories after the onset of amnesia.
• what is retrograde amnesia?

  loss of memories from before the onsent of amnesia.
• evaluation- problems with clinical evidence:

  • difficulty w/ studies of amnseiacs, difficult to be certain of exact parts of brain that have been affected until paitent has died.
  • damage to a particular area of brain doesn't necessarily mean that area is responsible for a particular area, it may be acting as a relay station.
  • malfunction of the relay station would impair performance.
  • case studies- low generalisability, lack of control over variables, can't establish cause & effect.
• evaluation- three types of LTM or two?:

  • suggestion that there is a 4th kind of LTM; perceptual-representation system (PRS), related to priming.

  priming = kind of implicit memory because the answers are automatic/unconscious.

  • some argue that episodic and semantic memory are part of the same declarative memory store system (both involve conscious recall).
  • cohen & squire (1980)- suggested only 2 types: declarative (ets) and non-declarative (p).