Types of Long Term Memory

• Episodic Memory


  The ability to recall personal experiences and events (episodes) from our lives. You have to make a conscious (explicit) effort to recall episodic memories - these memories are complex and are 'time-stamped’ so that you remember when they happened
• Semantic Memory


  Contains facts about the world and is always being added to. This is also a conscious (explicit) type of memory in that you have to make an effort to recall - less personal

  and is not time-stamped
• Procedural memory


  This is a memory for actions and skills. We can recall these without conscious awareness (implicit).
• Strength of LTM research 


  research support for LTM having different subsystems comes from Tulving et al (1989), participants were asked to perform memory tasks whilst scanning their brains using PET scans, it was found that episodic memories were recalled from the pre-frontal cortex and semantic memories in the posterior region of the cortex
• Limitation of LTM Research


  Overlap between episodic and semantic - Although different brain systems are involved, there is a lot of overlap between the two systems. Because we acquire knowledge based on personal experiences, semantic memories (facts) can originate in episodic memories (events)