Lesson 1: Introduction
The purpose of watching this video is to get a fast overview of some of the terms we cover in the course. Don't worry about taking thorough notes, but watching it will help give you an initial understanding of and is good to watch for that reason.
Before reading further, answer this question:
What is the timeframe and capacity of long-term memory (LTM)? What is the capacity of LTM?
Were you surprised by the answer? It is a common misconception that your long-term memory starts a day or so ago. Short-term memory is the last 30 seconds or so and long-term memory is from about 30 seconds ago to your earliest memories. Thus, all of this student's memories, except the memory "I just sat down," would be classified as long-term memories.
Long-term memory is theoretically unlimited. In other words, there is no point at which your brain is "filled up." No matter how it feels sometimes! Some researchers have tried to estimate based on the number of neural synapses of the brain, but it is impossible to give an actual number of long-term memories we could have.
Types of LTM What are the different types of long term memory?
Each of your long term memories can be classified as one of three types:
Episodic – memories for personally experienced events, includes marker of the context of time and place
Semantic – organized, factual knowledge, divorced from the context in which it was acquired
Procedural – skill knowledge, knowing how to do something, such as swinging a golf club or playing the piano
Try the flashcard activity on categorizing different types of LTM.