types of long term memory

• what is episodic memory

  Ability to recall events from our lives, e.g. what we ate for breakfast
• Episodic memory


  • A conscious effort is made to recall
  • You remember when they happened
  • Include many details e.g. people, places, objects, behaviours
  • Connected in the hippocampus
  • The memory can be strong or weak
  • Strength is influenced by the emotions felt at the time
  • Influenced by how deeply the information was processed when it was coded
• Research into episodic memory

  • Clive Wearing contracted a virus which affected his hippocampus
  • His procedural memory was fine (could still play piano)
  • Had problems recalling episodic memories
  • Able to recognize his wife but when she leaves for a few minutes, when she returns he greets her as if she's been gone for a while
• what is semantic memory

  Knowledge about the world e.g. what objects do
• Semantic memory


  • Begin as episodic memories
  • Over time, the memory tends to lose its association to particular events
  • Stronger the more they're processed deeply during coding
  • Conscious effort is made to recall
  • Temporal and frontal lobes are active when processing and recalling
• Research into semantic memory

  • Herlitz conducted an experiment to investigate gender differences in semantic memory abilities
  • Studied 1,000 Swedes
  • No difference between males and females in semantic memory ability
• what is Procedural memory

  Concerned with skills
• Procedural memory

  • Little conscious effort is required to recall
  • Individuals can perform learned tasks with little mental effort e.g. riding a bike or speaking
  • Associated with the cerebellum and primary motor cortex
• Research into procedural memory

  • Smith trained animals to complete a task then they slept
  • Their sleep was disrupted at particular sleep stages
  • Disrupting REM sleep had a negative impact on procedural memory (the animals couldn't perform as well as those in the control group)
• strengths of types of LTM

  Brain scans show what parts of the brain are active when diff LTM tasks are performed (episodic memory = hippocampus, semantic = temporal + frontal, procedural = motor cortex + cerebellum)

  vican et al = 8 year old girl had brain damage after tumour removal

  she struggled to make episodic memories but her semantic memories were intact. this provides evidence for different types of LTM
• limitations of LTM


  episodic memories are needed to perform semantic memories as we gain knowledge based on experience. this is ONE type of LTM, suggesting there may only be 2 types
• practical applications


  Belleville et al found that older people with mild cognitive impairment could be taught to have improved episodic memories. Being able to identify different types of LTM allows psychologists to have a positive impact on the lives of people with memory issues