LTM Stores Flashcards
Who proposed the idea of there being different LTM stores that hold different types of information?
Tulving
What does Episodic Memory store?
Personal life events (eg. first time you went on a plane) that are subjective, personalised and timestamped
What does Semantic Memory store?
General knowledge of the world (eg. the capital of Italy) that is factual and not timestamped
What does Procedural Memory Store?
Learnt actions and skills (eg. how to swim) that can be recalled without conscious awareness. This is essentially “muscle memory”
Which two case studies support the idea of there being separate LTM stores?
- HM: he couldn’t form new episodic memories but could still learn (eg. the mirror star test, which he improved at)
- Clive Wearing: he couldn’t form new episodic memories but could still play the piano (procedural memory)
What are the three LTM Stores proposed by Tulving?
- Episodic Memory
- Semantic Memory
- Procedural Memory
What scientific method suggests that different parts of LTM are located in different areas of the brain?
Brain scans
Where did Tulving discover via neuroimaging that episodic memories were recalled from?
The right prefrontal cortex
Where did Tulving discover via neuroimaging that semantic memories were recalled from?
The left prefrontal cortex
What real-world application is there for identifying different types of LTM?
The development of treatments to aid those with memory impairments, such as those with dementia
What example is there of separate LTM stores being applied to real-world scenarios?
- Belleville et al used the idea that there are different LTM stores to treat older people with milder cognitive impairments, and found that they performed better in a memory test than those who hadn’t undergone treatment
What did Cohen & Squire disagree with regarding episodic memory and semantic memory?
That they are separate stores in their own right, with them arguing that episodic memory is a ‘specialised subcategory’ of semantic memory, as both memory stores are declarative and need to be consciously recalled
What is the different between declarative and non-declarative memory?
Declarative memory is memory that needs to be consciously recalled, whilst non-declarative memory doesn’t require conscious recollection
What conflicting neuroimaging evidence is there in regards to where each LTM store is located?
- Where episodic memory and semantic memory are located
- Some studies such as Tulving have concluded episodic memory to be located in the right prefrontal cortex and semantic memory in the left, but other studies have found it to be the other way round
