Types of LTM

• Episodic memory is a LTM store for personal events and experiences (your 10th birthday party). memories from this store have to be retrieved consciously and with effort.
• semantic memory is a LTM store for our knowledge of the world (the capital of England is London). These memories usually need to be recalled deliberately and consciously.
• Procedural memory is a LTM store for our knowledge of how to do things (ride a bike). We usually recall these memories without making a conscious or deliberate effort.
• EVALUATION OF LTM TYPES:

  1. The case of Clive Wearing supports that there are different types of LTM. Following a brain infection, Wearing’s procedural memory seemed intact (e.g. being able to dress himself and even play the piano), but his episodic memory was severely damaged. When his wife left the room and returned, even after only a few minutes, he would greet her as if they had not seen each other for years. He kept a diary in which he constantly wrote that he was just regaining consciousness every few minutes. This supports that there are different stores for different types of LTM.
• EVALUATION OF LTM TYPES:

  • Brain scanning studies show that different areas of the brain are active when performing tasks involving different types of LTM. This supports that types of LTM are physically different.
  • Cases such as Clive Wearing are hard to use as evidence as they are case studies (studies of one individual). There is no way to test the memory of such individuals before their brain damage, and it is hard to use one person’s case to apply to the entire population. This weakens the supporting evidence for types of LTM.