AO3 - Types of Long Term Memory

• A strength of the different types of LTM is that there is neuroimaging evidence to support the notion that there are different types of LTM, e.g. participants were asked to perform various memory tasks whilst their brains were scanned using a PET scanner. It was found that episodic memories are associated with the Hippocampus, whereas procedural memories are associated with the Cerebellum and Motor Cortex. Therefore supporting the different types of LTM because the three different types of LTM were found in different areas of the brain, indicating that they are separate.
• The research into the different types of LTM can be praised as it used scientific methods. Objective and empirical techniques, such as brain scans, are used to identify the different parts of the brain that become active when completing different types of LTM tasks, for example, the Cerebellum and Motor Cortex being active when carrying out a procedural task. Therefore increasing the overall internal validity of research into types of LTM, thus raising Psychology's scientific status.
• Research into different types of LTM has real life evidence from a case study of Clive Wearing. He suffers from amnesia in which his episodic memory was damaged as he could not remember some events from his past, such as his musical education. However, Clive's procedural memory was still working as he could remember how to play the piano. Therefore supporting there are different types of LTM because if only certain parts of his LTM are damaged, this indicates that they are separate.
• However, research to support (case study of Clive Wearing) can be criticised as it has low population validity. This is because the research was a case study, using only Clive as a participant who suffers from an unusual illness involving damage to the brain. Therefore it is difficult to generalise the findings of the different types of LTM to the wider population as their LTM may operate differently, thus limiting the support that the research provides for different types of LTM.