Long term memory types

• Types of LTM

  • Episodic
  • Semantic
  • Procedural
• Episodic LTM

  • Memories for 'episodes' of personal experiences
  • Conscious
  • Time-stamped
  • Not very resistant to forgetting
• Semantic LTM

  • Memories for facts
  • Conscious
  • Not time-stamped
  • Not resistant to forgetting
• Procedural LTM

  • Memories for actions
  • Unconscious
  • Not time-stamped
  • Very resistant to forgetting
• Evidence that episodic and procedural LTM are separate

  H.M.'s mirror drawing - H.M. could not form new episodic or semantic LTM yet could learn new procedures, such as mirror drawing (even though he could not remember learning it), suggesting that there are separate processes for forming episodic, semantic and procedural LTM
• Evidence that episodic and semantic LTM are separate

  Tulving's brain-scanning study - Semantic memory recall involved the left prefrontal cortex, whilst episodic used the right prefrontal cortex, supporting the idea that these are two separate stores of LTM