Tulving's Gold Memory Study

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Imagine that everything you learned is forgotten a few hours after you learned it or if you couldn't recall what you did yesterday or your childhood memories. These would make it difficult to do our day-to-day tasks and could even affect our quality of life. If this were the case, you would lack what psychologists refer to as Long-Term Memory. The idea that short and long-term memory work in different stores has been investigated by many. Today we will focus on Tulving's Gold Memory Study, which investigated this.

In this explanation, you will be introduced to the topic of memory and its components; short-term and long-term memory.
Next, we will delve further into the topic and explore the Long term memory Tulving concept.
We will then review the Tulving model of memory and the Tulving experiment he carried out to establish evidence of his model.
Finally, we will cover some Tulvings gold study evaluation points, covering both the strengths and weaknesses of the study.

What is Memory?

Cognitive psychologists have faced the challenging task of explaining memory in theoretical terms and empirically. One of the main figures researching this topic is Endel Tulving. Before we understand the Tulving model of memory, let's review some basic memory definitions.

Memory refers to the ability to store information that we have learned or experienced.¹But that's not all; memory can be further subdivided into short- or long-term memory.

Short-term memory is the ability to recall items (chunks of information) that we have recently learned.¹

On the other hand...

Long-term memory refers to recalling memories that an individual learned a long time ago, e.g., after hours, weeks

or years after they learned it.¹

Multi-Store Model of Memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)

The mentioned definitions originated from the pioneering ideas of Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968). They developed a memory model in which they identified three memory storage systems. The sensory register is meant to contain information that comes from the senses. Such information would then be transferred into short-term memory (STM), a memory system with limited capacity and duration.

When information in STM is rehearsed and repeated over time, it is consolidated in the long-term memory (LTM) system. This memory system has an unlimited capacity. The model also suggested that retrieval allows accessing information already stored in LTM.

Although this model is widely acknowledged, it's not considered totally accurate these days. It was a great pioneering work and motivated other researchers to study memory further.

Long-Term Memory: Tulving (1989)

Tulving's contribution to our understanding of memory centres on long-term memory. It was back in 1972 when Tulving first described the distinction between semantic and episodic memory. This distinction is still used in psychology today.

Tulving's model suggests that episodic and semantic memory essentially involve two different mental processes in the brain. Tulving described episodic memory as long-term memories associated with time and in relation to a specific context.

An example of episodic memory is the memory you have of your first day of school.

Conversely, Tulving described semantic memory as the long-term knowledge of facts and concepts.

An example of semantic memory is remembering that the emergency contact number is 999.

Put simply; episodic memory can be described as the recollection of events, while semantic memory refers to the recollection of facts,

Tulving Experiment: Tulving's Gold Memory Study (1989)

As with any model in experimental fields, Tulving needed to prove his model through experiments. The study Tulving conducted is today referred to as Tulving's "Gold" Memory Study (1989).

The study was designed to provide neuropsychological evidence that episodic and semantic memory are two different cognitive processes.

To determine if the two types of memory are different cognitive processes, we expect to see different brain activity when doing tasks that rely on the different types of memory. Essentially, Tulving aimed to identify patterns of brain activity related to episodic and semantic memories.

Tulving Experiment: Procedure

Tulving used the functional brain-imaging technique PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans to test this. In the scan, a radioactive isotope of gold was used to detect the potential differences in brain activity.

PET scans measure brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow in different brain areas. The more brain activity there is in a certain area, the more oxygen is present in the given area.

Six individuals volunteered to participate in the study, Tulving and his wife included. The study used a repeated measures design as each participant took part in each condition of the experiment.

During the experimental phase, volunteers were asked to lay down and recall episodic and semantic memories, one at a time. Brain activity was recorded during the recollection of the two types of memories.

The dependent variable in the experiment was brain activity, and the independent variable was the two types of memory recollections; episodic and semantic.

The data from three volunteers presented inconsistencies. Therefore, only the data from the remaining three volunteers were considered for analysis.

Tulving Experiment: Results

The results supported Tulving's model of long-term memory. When volunteers recalled episodic memories, there was higher activity in the frontal and temporal lobes. On the other hand, when volunteers recalled semantic memories, the parietal and occipital lobes showed greater activity.

From the Tulving experiment, it can be concluded that episodic and semantic memory are two distinct cognitive processes as different networks are activated when recalling the different types of memory.

Brain networks are brain regions that are activated when doing a specific cognitive process.

Research has identified that one brain region does not perform a specific function. Instead, multiple areas (a network) work together to perform a function.

Tulving's Gold Study Evaluation

Strengths:

The study was one of the first ones that distinguished cognitive processes with a brain imaging technique.
Using a PET scan allows researchers to measure brain activity in the different brain regions empirically.
Informed consent was collected from the volunteers who took part in the study. Therefore, the researchers took into account ethical considerations.

Weaknesses:

Data from three participants were inconsistent and could not be analysed; this suggests there may have been potential confounding/ extraneous variables that had not been accounted for, which may have affected these cases. The issue with confounding/ extraneous variables is that they lower the internal validity of an experiment.
The study lacks generalisability. Given that PET scans of three individuals were analysed, this sample does not represent the general population. Therefore, the study does not account for individual differences.
Since researchers were only able to ask volunteers to think of memories, the researchers can't control if participants have intrusive thoughts unrelated to the type of memory being investigated, suggesting the study may lack internal validity.

Internal validity refers to whether a study measures what it intends to.

As with any other study in a laboratory setting, the results lack ecological validity. Lab settings are artificial (lacking mundane realism) that are not representative of real-life settings and may cause participants to act unnaturally.

Tulving Model : Procedural memory

After Tulving had established that semantic and episodic memory are distinguishable, Tulving realised that there was another type of LTM, procedural memory.

Procedural memory is a form of LTM that is used when we perform an action. However, unlike semantic and episodic memories, procedural memories do not rely on us consciously attending to them; instead, they're automatic.

Riding a bike or eating, for example, fall under the category of procedural memory because these are unconscious recollections of the past. People do not need to actively or consciously remember how to grab a fork and put food in one's mouths.

From what we know about memory today, procedural memory falls under implicit memory, while semantic and episodic memory falls under explicit memory.

Implicit memories are memories that we don't consciously think about. For instance, we don't think about how to ride a bike; we just ride it. But, it's obvious the memory is there, or we wouldn't know how to ride a bike.

And explicit memories are the opposite; we have to consciously think about the memory.

Tulving's Gold Memory Study - Key takeaways

Memory generally refers to the ability to recollect information.
The Multi-Store Model of Memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968) first described the difference between long-term and short-term memory.
Tulving proposed a model in 1972 where he described the difference between episodic and semantic memory.
Episodic memory is the recollection of events, and semantic memory is the recollection of facts.
Tulving's "Gold" Study showed that brain activity associated with episodic memory is observable in the frontal and temporal lobes and brain activity related to semantic memory is visible in the parietal and occipital lobes.
Later, Tulving proposed a different type of memory for actions and skills: procedural memory.

References

American Psychological Association (n.d.). Citation in APA Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved September 6, 2022 from https://dictionary.apa.org/

Frequently Asked Questions about Tulving's Gold Memory Study

Tulving proposed a theory in which he distinguished two types of long-term memory. These were semantic and episodic memory.

Tulving's model of memory suggests that episodic and semantic memories involve two distinct long-term memory cognitive processes.

Tulving was one of the first researchers to identify several sub-types of long-term memory. He identified the differences between episodic, semantic and procedural memory.

Tulving (1972) identified three types of long-term memory; episodic, semantic and procedural.

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Flashcards in Tulving's Gold Memory Study30 Start learning

Did Tulving use empirical, scientific methods in his experiment?

Yes.

Long-term memory is the only type of memory; true or false?

False.

Which of the following is the correct definition of short-term memory?

The ability to recall information that you have recently learned (between 10 to 30 seconds ago).

Semantic and episodic memory are examples of ___ memory.

declarative.

Tulving (1972) proposed a model in which he distinguished between long- and short-term memory; true or false?

False.

Remembering where you went for your last summer holiday is an example of ____ memory.

episodic.

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Tulving's Gold Memory Study

What is Memory?

Multi-Store Model of Memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)

Long-Term Memory: Tulving (1989)