Lesson 4

Organisation of long-term memory

VCE Psychology Units 3 & 4

Explain the organisation of long-term memory including declarative and episodic memory, and semantic network theory

Identify types of long-term memories

Explain and evaluate the semantic network theory

Long-term memory (LTM) is the relatively

permanent memory system that holds vastamounts of informationfor a long time, possibly

indefinitely.

How can we get information out of our LTM? What is this similar to?

Source: Bananastock

Long-term memory (LTM) is typically classified into two types:

Long-term memory (LTM)

Procedural (implicit)memory

Declarative (explicit)memory

Memory of ‘how to do something’ (ofactions and skills

previously learned)

Memory of specific facts/events that can be

explicitly stated (declared)

The classification system also distinguishes between two types of declarative (explicit) memory:

Declarative (explicit)memory

Episodic memory Semantic memory

The declarative memory of specific events or

personal experiences.

The declarative memory of information we have

about the world.

• identifying a type of flower• explaining a maths formula to

someone• describing the events of a

movie you have seen• remembering what you ate for

lunch yesterday.

Provide three other examples.

Declarative memory

Source: Jupiter

Examples of information retrieved from declarative memory include:

Episodic memories often include details of:• the time• the place• the psychological and physiological state of the person

at the time of the event.

Episodic memory

Episodic memory is like a mental diary, recording the autobiographical episodes we experience.

Provide three examples of episodic memory not provided in your textbook.

What details of this event might the girl have in her episodic memory?

Episodic memory

Source: Image Source

Semantic memory includes: specialised knowledge in

areas of expertise academic knowledge of the

kind learned in school everyday general

knowledge the meanings of words.

Provide one example of each type of semantic memory not provided in your textbook.

Semantic memory

Source: Macmillan South Africa

Semantic network theory proposes that information in LTM is organised systematically in the form of overlapping networks (or grids) of concepts (nodes) that are interconnected and interrelated by meaningful links.

Each node is linked with a number of other nodes.

When we retrieve information, the activation of one node causes other related nodes to be activated also.

The retrieval of information from LTM therefore begins with someone searching a particular ‘region’ of memory and then tracing associations for links among memories (concepts) in that region, rather than randomly searching the vast information stores in LTM.

How is this similar to using Google?

A shorter link between two concepts in a semantic network indicates a strong association between concepts. While a longer link between two concepts illustrates a more distant association.

It is thought that when ideas are further apart in meaning , they are further apart in in distance (within the network). This means that when memories are similar in their meaning it takes shorter time to retrieve them.

Question 1: What is long-term memory (LTM)? Answer: The relatively permanent memory system that holds vast amounts of information for a long time, possibly indefinitely.

Question 2: LTM is typically classified into ____ memory and ____ memory.

Answer: Procedural (implicit); declarative (explicit). Question 3: There are two types of declarative memory: _____ memory and _____ memory.

Answer: Episodic; semantic. Question 4: The declarative memory of information we have about the world is called _____ memory.

Answer: Semantic. Question 5: What details do episodic memories often include? Answer: The time, place and psychological and physiological state of the person at the time of the event.

Question 6: Your memory of the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria in February 2009 is an example of semantic memory. True or false?

Answer: False, it’s an example of episodic memory. Question 7: According to semantic network theory, when we retrieve information, the activation of one node causes other unrelated nodes to also be activated. True or false?

Answer: False, it causes the activation of other related nodes.