Long Term Memory

• explicit memory

  knowing facts
• implicit memory

  knowing the how behind the facts
• episodic memory


  • explicit memory
  • memories of the life events, often with emotion and context
  • can be expressed verbally, available for conscious inspection (recalled with conscious effort)
  • time stamped - with reference to time and place
  • less resistant to amnesia/forgetting
• semantic memory

  • explicit memory
  • memories of knowledge of the world, general knowledge, functions of objects and social customs
  • begins as episodic but we lose association and becomes less semantic
  • can be expressed verbally, available for conscious inspection (recalled with conscious effort)
  • not time stamped
  • less resistant to amnesia/forgetting
• procedure memory

  • implicit memory
  • memories of how to do things, acquired through repetition and practice
  • difficult to explain verbally, unavailable for conscious inspection (recall without conscious awareness)
  • not time stamped
  • may be more resistant to amnesia/forgetting
• case study of Clive Wearing

  • his procedural memory is still working and his semantic is still okay but episodic memory is damaged
  • he can still play the piano because he learnt this, and it is now muscle memory in his procedural memory which has not been damaged
  • the limitations of case studies as evidence because it is just about one person so it's difficult to generalise
  • supports that there are different parts of memory in the brain because only some parts of the LTM were affected by his damage