Long Term Memory Notes

Long Term Memory, LTM

Long term memory (LTM) is the relatively permanent store that can hold vast amounts of information for long periods of time.

STM  ELABORATIVE REHEARSAL  LTM

Elaborative rehearsal is a complex processing of data, it associates new information with information already stored in LTM. This type of storage makes it's easier for the transfer and retrieval of information.

The process of transferring memories requires CONSOLIDATION ie revisiting and reconfirming of data to establish links and new neuronal connections.

This is why teachers are always telling you to revise your work regularly! You may be able to 'cram' the night before a topic test but if you don't revise regularly by the time you get to your semester exam you will have forgotten everything. This is also why I spent the first part of this lesson revisiting the work we did previously. I also tried to approach the material differently and present it in a new way that showed how it all fitted together. This is an example of elaborative rehearsal.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LTM

LTM differs from STM in many ways:

- the form in which the information is stored

- how information is recalled

- the way in which forgetting occurs

We should now know from our earlier work that information in STM is represented acoustically or by sound. LTM primarily stores information SEMANTICALLY, that is, in terms of meaning.

Some psychologists believe that information in the LTM is stored permanently. They believe that forgetting occurs not because the memory is gone but because for some reason we are unable to retrieve it. However not all agree but "relatively permanent" is generally accepted.

We retrieve information from the LTM using cues. The process is extremely efficient and usually only takes a few seconds. This works in much the same way librarians use call numbers to locate specific books.

Retrieval of information can be:

- Intentional. ie what was the name of your first pet or

- Unintentional. ie seeing the same breed of dog as your first may remind you of the name of your first dog.

TYPES OF LTM

Just as there were two different types of Sensory Memory, there are several types of LTM that we use to store different sorts of information. We'll summarise these and then look at some examples that illustrate them.

DECLARATIVE MEMORY

This is the part of the memory