| Memory (cont'd) | Memory (cont'd) | ||||||||
Types of Long Term Memory:
Back to long term memory...
Research suggests that within long term memory there are several types of memory. There are several possible ways to divide up long term memory. One way to divide up long term memory is into implicit memory and explicit memory.
Long term memory = Implicit memory + Explicit memoryExplicit memories are memories that we can consciously remember. Most of what we commonly consider "memory" is explicity memory. Answers you give on an exam are a product of explicit memory. Everything you "know" you remember is explicit memory.
Explicit memory may be further subdivided into declarative memories and episodic memories
Explicit memory = Declarative memory + Episodic memoryDeclarative memories are memories about general factual information, such as that George Washington was the first president of the United States.Episodic memories are personal, autobiographic memories, such as what your first day of school was like, or what you did on your last vacation.
Implicit memories are memories
that we do not consciously remember, which nonetheless can be show to influence
our behavior. Implicit memory is close to Freud's concept of "unconscious
thought." Since we are not consciously aware of implicit memories,
it is difficult to demonstrate that they exist. However, cognitive
psychologists have been able to show that memories that we are not aware
of are able to influence our behavior. Take the following example.
Suppose that I show you 50 photographs today. Then, a week later,
let us suppose that I show you 100 photographs and ask you which ones you
like best. I then ask you which ones you have seen before.
You probably won't be able to tell me which ones you have seen before,
but there is a good chance that you will "like" the photos you saw a week
ago better than those that are new to you. You will not know why
this is. This is an example of memories that we are not aware of
influencing our daily behavior.
Implicit memory may be further divided into procedural memory and conditioning effects.
Implicit memories and explicit memories seem to be processed and stored in different parts of the brain. The cerebellum appears to be responsible for implicit memories. The hippocampus (located deep in the temporal lobe of the brain) appears to be more responsible for explicit memories. (We will study these parts of the brain in a future chapter.)Implicit memory = Procedural memory + Conditioning effectsProcedural memories are memories for how to do things, such as riding a bike or driving a car.Conditioning effects are memories that are formed more or less automatically through the processes of classical and operant conditioning, which we will study future chapters.
This page was last revised on 09/09/2008.