Types of LTM

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Episodic:

Refers to our ability to recall events (episodes) These memories are time-stamped (you remember when they happened) Episodic memories involve several elements such as people, places, noises etc. all which make up a single memory. You have to make a conscious effort in order to recall episodic memories

Semantic:

Contains our knowledge of the world e.g. the meanings of words, what a giraffe looks like. These memories are not time-stamped. We don't remember when we learned these concepts. Semantic memories are less personal and more about facts we all share

Procedural:

Memories of actions/skills or how we do things e.g. drive a car. We can recall these without conscious awareness or effort.

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Clinical Evidence:

Henry Molaison and Clive Wearing are examples of this. The episodic memory in both men was severely impaired as a result of amnesia. They had difficulty remembering events that had happened to them in the past, but their semantic memories were relatively unaffected. e.g. HM could not remember stroking a dog an hour earlier and could not remember owning a dog in the past but he would not need to have the concept of dog explained to him over and over again. Their procedural memories were also intact

This supports Tulving's view that there are different memory stores in LTM. One store can be damaged but other stores are unaffected. This is evidence that not only are these types of memory different but they are stored in different parts of the brain

Neuroimaging Evidence:

Tulving got their participants to perform various memory tasks while their brains were scanned using a PET scanner

They found that episodic and semantic memories were recalled from the prefrontal cortex. The left prefrontal cortex was involved in recalling semantic memories, whereas episodic memories were recalled from the right prefrontal cortex