Types of Memory
In the 1950s, Henry Molaison (known as H.M.) underwent surgery to treat epilepsy. This resulted in a cure for his epilepsy but at the cost of his ability to make new explicit memories (anterograde amnesia). Prior to this time, psychologists thought that memory was one system, but H.M.’s deficits demonstrated that memory is comprised of several distinct systems, including long-term and working memory.
How do the various types of memory support your daily life? How would deficits in the functionality of any of the types memory impact your life? What type of deficit do you think would be most profound?
To prepare:
Consider each of the different types of memory and how they support your daily life. Consider how impairments to memory would affect your daily life.
Write a 4 page APA-style paper that addresses the following:
Describe and explain the different types of memory. Include the differences between long-term and working memory and the differences between the various types of long-term memory, including explicit and implicit memory.
As part of your answer, define and explain anterograde and retrograde amnesia.
Finally, provide an example of explicit memory and implicit memory in daily life and how your life would be impacted by anterograde amnesia in either long-term memory subsystem.
