types of LTM

• Endel Tulving (1985) proposed three types of long term memory

  • episodic
  • semantic
  • procedural
• Episodic - personal experiences/events (declarative)
• Semantic - knowledge, facts, concepts and meanings (declarative)
• Procedural - action/skills (non-declarative)
• Patient HM underwent surgery to cure his epilepsy which involved the removal of his hippocampus. After surgery, HM was unable to form new episodic memories but retained his ability to learn procedural tasks
• Tulving et al (1994) used brain scans show different parts of the brain are active when processing different types of LTM. Semantic memories were recalled in the left prefrontal cortex whereas episodic memories were recalled in the right prefrontal cortex.
• Belleville et al (2006) demonstrated that episodic memories could be improved in older people who had a mild cognitive impairment. The trained participants performed better on a test of episodic memory after training than the control group