✏️Types of long term memory
There are 3 different stores of long-term memory; episodic, semantic and procedural. Episodic
memory is information from our life. This store is like a diary of personal events and experiences.
Episodic memories are timestamped so you can remember when they happened. These memories
can involve several elements such as the people, places, objects and behaviours which are all woven
into each memory. A conscious effort is required to recall this information.
The second store is semantic memories. This is our knowledge of the world around us and is like a
combination of an encyclopaedia and a dictionary. Semantic memories aren't timestamped so we
don't remember when we first learned about certain things, such as knowing Paris is the capital of
France. These are less personal and many people can share these memories.
The third store is procedural memory. This is information that stores memories related to actions
and skills, so how we do things. These are recalled without any effort and they become automatic
with practice. Explaining how to do something step-by-step is hard because it's usually done without
conscious recall.
A strength is that there is case study evidence of different types of long-term memory. HM and Clive
Wearing both had difficulty recalling their episodic memories. However, their semantic memories
and procedural memories were intact and functional. This supports the view that there are different
types of long-term memory stores.
However, a counterpoint is that researchers don't have control over case studies. They didn't have
any information about the participant's memories before the damage. Therefore clinical studies are
limited in what they can tell us.
A limitation is that there are conflicting findings about the types of long-term memory. Some
researchers have carried out research revealing that semantic memories are located in the left
prefrontal cortex, with episodic memories being in the right prefrontal cortex. Other studies have
shown that semantic memory is in the right prefrontal cortex and episodic in the left prefrontal
cortex. This means that there are several different opinions as to where each section might be
located.
Another strength is that the research can help people with memory problems. Old-age memory loss
is specific to episodic memory, and this makes it harder to recall more recent memories, although
past memories are still functional. One research carried out an intervention targeting episodic
memory which improved their memory compared to a control group. This shows that distinguishing
between the types of long-term memory can help specific treatments be developed.
There are 3 different stores of long-term memory; episodic, semantic and procedural. Episodic
memory is information from our life. This store is like a diary of personal events and experiences.
Episodic memories are timestamped so you can remember when they happened. These memories
can involve several elements such as the people, places, objects and behaviours which are all woven
into each memory. A conscious effort is required to recall this information.
The second store is semantic memories. This is our knowledge of the world around us and is like a
combination of an encyclopaedia and a dictionary. Semantic memories aren't timestamped so we
don't remember when we first learned about certain things, such as knowing Paris is the capital of
France. These are less personal and many people can share these memories.
The third store is procedural memory. This is information that stores memories related to actions
and skills, so how we do things. These are recalled without any effort and they become automatic
with practice. Explaining how to do something step-by-step is hard because it's usually done without
conscious recall.
A strength is that there is case study evidence of different types of long-term memory. HM and Clive
Wearing both had difficulty recalling their episodic memories. However, their semantic memories
and procedural memories were intact and functional. This supports the view that there are different
types of long-term memory stores.
However, a counterpoint is that researchers don't have control over case studies. They didn't have
any information about the participant's memories before the damage. Therefore clinical studies are
limited in what they can tell us.
A limitation is that there are conflicting findings about the types of long-term memory. Some
researchers have carried out research revealing that semantic memories are located in the left
prefrontal cortex, with episodic memories being in the right prefrontal cortex. Other studies have
shown that semantic memory is in the right prefrontal cortex and episodic in the left prefrontal
cortex. This means that there are several different opinions as to where each section might be
located.
Another strength is that the research can help people with memory problems. Old-age memory loss
is specific to episodic memory, and this makes it harder to recall more recent memories, although
past memories are still functional. One research carried out an intervention targeting episodic
memory which improved their memory compared to a control group. This shows that distinguishing
between the types of long-term memory can help specific treatments be developed.
