Types of LTM

• Episodic memory (declarative memory)


  Memory about experiences and feelings, these memories are influenced by emotions when encoded.

  Episodic memory allows us to distinguish between 'real' and 'imagined' memories.

  We have to make a conscious effort to recall them.

  They contain: details of the event, context and emotion.
• Semantic Memory (declarative memory)


  Memory of facts, concepts and meanings, these memories are knowledge about the world that can be shared with everyone.

  Memories here seem to be better sustained than episodic memory.

  Overtime, the emotion is divorced from the meaning, they do not have a time stamp.
• Procedural Memory (non-declarative memory)


  Memories of learned tasks with little conscious effort required to complete.

  These memories are automatic and acquired through repetition.
• Key differences

  • If it is taught, because semantic memory is facts which are taught to us whereas episodic memories are events are experiences; we aren't taught them, we learn them ourselves.
  • If it requires effort to recall, because procedural memory is learned tasks which require little conscious effort to recall whilst episodic memories require some effort to recall.
  • If it had a timestamp, because semantic memory doesn't have a time stamp but divorces emotion from the memory and episodic memory is coded for with emotion, whereas procedural memories aren't coded for with emotion.