Tulving LTM

• What were the 2 memory types that Tulving split the LTM into?

  Episodic memory - remembered experiences

  Semantic memory - remembered facts
• In what ways did Tulving say that each store was qualitatively different?

  -Nature of stored memories

  -Time referencing

  -Nature of associations between memories held in each store

  -Retrieving or recalling memories

  -independence of each store

  -stored memories
• What does the semantic memory represent?

  A mental encyclopaedia that stores words, facts, rules, meanings, and concepts

  These memories are associated with other facts that link concepts together
• What does the episodic memory represent?

  A mental diary that retrieves and stores information about experiences in our life.

  These memories are linked to time and context
• What was the time referencing for episodic memory?

  Episodic memory is dependant on time referencing, the memories are linked to the time in which they occurred.
• What was the time referencing for semantic memory?

  Semantic memory is detached from a specific time because factual info can be recalled without reference to when it was learned.
• What is the nature of associations between memories in the episodic memory?

  Input into the episodic memory is continuous because we are continuously experiencing and processing episodic events
• What is the nature of associations between memories in the semantic memory?

  Semantic memories can be inputted in a fragmented way, we can piece factual info together that has been learnt at different points in time
• What is the nature of retrieving or recalling memories in the episodic memory?

  Recall of episodic memory is dependant on the context to which the event was initially learned or experienced. This is called cue dependent memory. When you input episodic events, you encode the events= and other peripheral cues such as smells or feelings.
• What is the nature of retrieving or recalling memories in the semantic memory?

  Doesnt seem dependant on context in which it is learned so recall is not dependant on context to aid it. Retrieval can be based on inferences, generalisation, and logical thought.
• Are semantic and episode stores interrelated?

  Semantic memory can operate independently without episodic memory.

  However episodic memory is unlikely to be able to operate without semantic memory because we are unable to draw on previous knowledge.
• A strength of this theory is there is evidence from scanning techniques, why?

  Evidence comes from brain damaged patients and show that episodic memories seem to be affected if there is medial temporal lobe or prefrontal lobe damage, which is different from semantic memories.

  Suggests Tulving was correct in his theory of different LTM stores.
• How is validity a weakness of the study?

  The theory lacks validity as it is more descriptive than explanatory. It doesn’t explain the memories in detail. As well as this, we know now that there are more types of LTM (procedural and declarative) so this theory of LTM is incomplete.
• Which case study supports this theory?

  Case of Dr S. the skiing neurologist.

  He fell while skiing and later found that he thought his wife looked older and failed to recognise his younger friends, he then continued skiing- explained by loss of episodic memory as he appeared to suffer loss after fall when he found the previous 25 years of memory were blank.

  However, he was taken to hospital and asked for a brain scan and made a correct diagnosis of transient global amnesia when he saw the scan- his semantic memory was in tact
• Give another weakness of the theory

  the two stores rely on each other and are hard to separate

  It is hard to test episodic memory since there is limited opportunity to check facts of someone’s memories of experiences