Tulving Flashcards
(18 cards)
What is semantic memory?
- stores knowledge of the world
- facts, languages, meaning of words
- General knowledge
What is episodic memory?
- information about events we have personally experienced
- times, places, associated emotions
- unique to the individual
Who studied long term memory?
Tulving
Two types of memory Tulving states?
Episodic and semantic
What is procedural memory?
- remembering how to do things without consciously thinking
- instant recall
3 parts of long term memory
- episodic
- procedural
- semantic
Time referencing - Semantic memory
Is detached from the temporal link, as factual information could be recalled without reference to when it was learned
Time referencing - Episodic memory
Is dependent on time - referencing, memories about events has happened to you are linked to the time in which they occurred.
Spatial referencing - Episodic memory
Input into episodic memory is continuous, as we experience a whole episode in some temporal frame of reference.
Spatial referencing - Semantic memory
Can be input in a fragmentary way. We can piece together factual information that has been learnt at different points in time
Retrieval - semantic memory
Recall of semantic memory does not seem to be dependent on the context in which it is learned, so it is assumed that retrieval of these types of memories is similarly not dependent on context to aid recall.
Does retrieval change semantic memory?
Retrieval from semantic memory leaves the memory trace relatively unchanged from its original form.
Retrieval - episodic memory
Recall of episodic memory is dependent on context in which the event was initially learned or experience. In this context that aids the retrieval of episodic memory
Does retrieval memory change episodic memory?
Tulving also believed that episodic memory is susceptible to transformation.
Are the stores interrelated?
Semantic memory can operate independently of episodic memory. For example, we do not need to remember a classroom lesson about equations to be able to use the equations we learned.
However, episodic memory is unlikely to operate without semantic memory as we need to be able to draw on previous knowledge of objects, people and events that occur in order to understand them.
Tulving argued that despite this and although the two systems may overlap, they can be treated as separate independent stores
A criticism of Tulving
A significant problem with describing LTM in terms of two separate systems is that is does not account for any interrelationship or continuity between each system. Clearly they work together when given an episodic task, such as learning a list of words, as a word can have a semantic feature and an episodic reference.
Case studies supporting Tulving
KC, suffered LTM impairment to his episodic memory following a motorbike accident resulting in an inability to form or recall many personal events in his life; however his recollection of factual information was intact. This case supports the distinction between the two LTM stores
Ostergaard (1987), study on a 10 year old boy with brain damage following a lack of oxygen to the brain causing injury. Although his intelligence was intact, he suffered impairment to both his episodic and semantic memory. However, he did make educational progress and was able to store information in semantic memory. This offers some evidence for the independence of the two memory systems
What is another weakness in the study?
