Types of LTM

• • Episodic memory: memory of events, like an episode (consciously recalled)
  • Procedural memory: memory of skills, such as riding a bike or reading (difficult to actively recall)
  • Semantic memory: memory of general knowledge/facts (consciously recalled)
• AO3 Support:

  • Episodic memory associated with hippocampus/temporal lobe/frontal, semantic related to temporal lobe, procedural associated with cerebellum/motor cortex/basal ganglia/limbic system - this backed up by brain scans showing activity there during relevant memorising
  • HM case study, hippocampus damaged, showed difficulty forming episodic/semantic memories, relating to where they're believed to be
  • Alzheimer's patients able to form/retain semantic but not episodic memories (Hodges and Patterson 2007), and in some cases it's the reverse (Irish 2011), showing LTM separation
• AO3 Criticism:

  • Issues with brain damage case studies is that it is difficult to be sure exactly which part of their brain was truly damaged until they've died and been dissected, and damage to area may not mean that area is responsible for that behaviour, as it may just be a relay station
• AO3 critism:

  • Original LTM theory may be too simplistic, there may be more than just 3 kinds - perceptual representation system memories help prime later actions, and this type of memory is shown to be separate from temporal lobe, showing its separate from semantic and episodic (Spiers et Al 2001), suggesting it is a fourth memory kind