Lesson 7 - Long Term Memory

Question 1

What is Episodic Memory?

Answer 1

• Memory for events
• Consists of 3 details:
  Specific details
  Context of event
  Emotions felt
• Stored in Hippocampus

Question 2

What is Semantic Memory?

Answer 2

• For Facts and general knowledge about world
• Relates to things like the function of an object
• Relates to mathematics, language and etiquette
• Starts as Episodic memory before turning into Semantic memory because it loses association with context
• Stored in temporal lobe

Question 3

What is Procedural Memory?

Answer 3

• Concerned with motor skills
• Acquired through practise and repetition, more resistant to forgetting
• Less aware of them because they are automatic and unavailable for conscious inspection, making it hard to explain them verbally
• If you think too much about procedural memory, it’ll be harder to carry out
• It is important that these memories are automatic so attention can be paid on other tasks
• Stored in Cerebullum

Question 4

Evaluation of LTM (+)

Answer 4

• Patients with amnesia are unable to store new episodic/semantic memories but procedural memories are unaffected = distinct stores
• Brain scans show that when a participants thinks of different pieces of information, different parts of the brain are active.
• Clive Wearing suffered from an infection damaging his hippocampus. He has no episodic memory and cannot form new semantic memories. However, his procedural memory is intact (playing piano)

Question 5

Evaluation of LTM (-)

Answer 5

• Cases are detailed but isolated and individual therefore findings of HM and Clive Wearing cannot be generalised to the rest of the population.