Tulving LTM

Tulving (1972) believed the MSM's view of LTM was much too simplistic. He proposed that there are at least 2 LTM systems, containing different types of information - episodic memory and semantic memory

- our ability to recall events from our lives
- episodic memories are 'autobiographical' because you have personally experienced the events
- example: breakfast eaten this morning

- episodic memories are time stamped (we remember when they happened)
- memory of a single episode includes several elements (people, and places, objects and behaviours)
- episodic memory allows us to 'time travel' (we can think back to past events and relive them)
- episodic memories are subjective and we may not be able to recall exact details

- stores our knowledge of the world, including facts
- similar to a combination of an encyclopaedia and a dictionary
- example: the meaning of words

- necessary for us to use language
- stores organised knowledge of language
- allows us to mentally represent things that are not present
- semantic memory is less likely to be distorted or forgotten than episodic
- semantic memories are not time stamped

- a strength is that the distinction between episodic and semantic memories is supported by evidence from the case study of HM
- while HM had difficulty recalling events from his past, his semantic memory was relatively unaffected (for example he still understood the meanings of words)
- HM couldn't recall having owned a dog in the past however he did not need the concept of 'dog' explained to him
- this supports Tulving's view that there are different memory stores in LTM as HM had damaged one store (his episodic memory) but not the other (his semantic memory)

- lacks control of variables
- the researcher has no knowledge of patients memory before damage
- all research gained would be retrospective
- without statistical evidence of what memory was like beforehand it is difficult to judge exactly how much worse it is now
- this lack of control reduces the validity of clinical studies and limits what they can tell us about types of LTM

- some Psychologists do not accept that episodic and semantic memories are entirely different forms of LTM
- Tulving (2002) came to view episodic memory as a 'specialised subcategory' of semantic memory - as he found that though it was possible to have a damaged episodic and intact semantic, the opposite was not true
- this shows that the relationship between types of LTM is more complex than Tulving originally believed

Patients with damage specific to the hippocampus suffered loss of their episodic memory, but not all of their semantic memory.
This suggests that semantic and episodic LTM are encoded in different parts of the brain
-This supports the fact that semantic and episodic long term memories are stored separately from each other
-This is shown in Schmolck's study because they lost their episodic memory but still could retain and remember information from their semantic memory. Therefore, they are stored in different parts of the brain because the patient damaged his hippocampus which deals with the episodic memory whereas the temporal cortex processes the semantic memory

- understanding of the episodic and semantic memory distinction has real life applications
- Belleville et al (2006) found that people with a mild memory impairment can improve their episodic memory
- this is a benefit of identifying different types of LTM because it can be used to help people with specific memory problems lead more normal lives

brief outline
episodic memory / supporting study HM / CA (retrospective data)
key features episodic memory / supporting study (shmolck 2002)
semantic memory / opposing views (Tulving 2002)
key features semantic memory / applications