Different Types of Long-Term Memory (AQA GCSE Psychology): Revision Note

Episodic memory

• Episodic memory consists of memories of events from a person’s life, for example:

  • Your fifth birthday party 

  • The person you sat next to throughout secondary school

  • The play you saw last week at the theatre

• Episodic memories can be dull, mediocre, nostalgic, pleasurable, traumatic, or comforting:

  • An episodic memory does not necessarily involve strong emotions, it is the recall of an episode (long or short) from your own life/experience

• Episodic memories are ‘time-stamped’ i.e. they are identifiable by day, week, month, year (or a vague approximation of when the event occurred), for example:

  • I remember the exact day I left school and who I was with when I finished that last exam

  • We always visited my granny on a Sunday afternoon without fail

  • I first tasted sushi on a trip to London with my parents which was about five years ago

• Episodic memories are declarative as they require some conscious effort to retrieve

Semantic memory

• Semantic memory consists of the meaning a person ascribes to specific details, for example:

  • Knowing that Washington DC is the capital of the USA

  • Knowing that your best friend’s name is Charlie

  • Knowing that flour must be folded into cake batter so as not to knock the air out

• Semantic memories are not ‘time-stamped’ i.e. they are items of information that you share with others, unlike episodic memories which are unique to you, for example:

  • Learning about the English Civil War in History GCSE 

  • Understanding what a ‘no entry’ sign means

  • Recognising a famous footballer

• Semantic memories are declarative as they require some conscious effort to retrieve

Procedural memory

• Procedural memory consists of knowing how to perform specific actions or sequences of actions/tasks. For example:

  • Being able to ride a bike

  • Being able to touch-type

  • Being able to drive a car 

• Procedural memories are those which feel ‘automatic’ i.e. you perform an action without having to think about what you are doing

• Procedural memories may take some time to embed in the memory but once they are learned they tend to stay with the person for life (unless the actions are neglected for many years)

• Procedural memories are not ‘time-stamped’, they are learned by the individual and may strengthen with practice e.g. a champion tennis player must constantly practise to be the best

• Procedural memories are non-declarative as they require no real conscious effort to access e.g. a good ice skater does not have to constantly think about not falling over and how to balance

Evaluation of different types of long-term memory

Strengths

• There is evidence to show that episodic memories are long lasting, for example:

  • Bahrick (1975) asked 392 American graduates to identify people from their high school yearbook

  • Participants recalling from 14 years ago could accurately match the name to the face 90% of the time

  • Participants recalling from 47 years ago were accurate 60% of the time

  • This suggests that episodic memories are strong and long lasting

• Case studies of brain-damaged patients (e.g. HM) show that procedural memories and some episodic memories remained even when short-term memory was massively impacted

Weaknesses

• There is some cross-overs between episodic and semantic memories e.g. learning French at school is both semantic (understanding the language) and episodic (time-stamped to school experience)

• Even the most expert in their field can temporarily ‘forget’ how to perform what were once automatic acts e.g. cricketers who get the ‘yips’ (hand jitters) and suddenly cannot bowl a successful ball (see the case of Scott Boswell, who took 10 years to get his bowling skill back!)