types of LTM

• Types of LTM

  • Episodic
  • Semantic
  • Procedural
• Episodic memory

  • This stores events (episodes) from our personal lives
  • They are time stamped (you remember when they happened and how they relate to crimes)
  • They involve several elements - people, places, objects, and behaviours are woven into one memory
  • You have to make a conscious effort to recall them
  • E.g. recent visit to the dentist
• Semantic memory

  • This stores our knowledge of the world
  • They are not time stamped
  • They are less personal and are more about knowledge and facts
  • E.g. the taste of an orange
• Procedural memory

  • This stores actions and skills
  • Recall occurs without awareness or effort as these skills become automatic with practice
  • E.g. driving a car
• Evaluation

  One strength is case study evidence of different types of long term memory. Clinical studies of amnesia showed both participants had difficulty recalling events that had happened to them in their pasts (episodic memory). But their semantic memories were unaffected. Procedural memories were also intact. This supports the view that there are different memory stores in long term memory as one store can be damaged but other stores are unaffected. However, researchers lack control in clinical studies as they don't know about the participants memory before the brain damage.
• Evaluation

  One limitation is conflicting findings about types of long term memory and brain areas. Buckner and Peterson reviewed research findings and concluded that semantic memory is located in the left prefrontal cortex and episodic with the right prefrontal cortex. But other studies have found that semantic memory was associated with the right prefrontal cortex and the reverse for episodic memory. Thus challanges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each type might be located.
• Evaluation

  One strength is helping people with memory problems. Memory loss in old age is specific to episodic memory as it is harder to recall memories of recent experiences although past episodic memories are intact. Belleville devise an intervention for older people targeting episodic memory, which improved their memory compared to a control group. This shows that distinguishing between types of long term memory enables specific treatments to be developed.