Describe and evaluate the types of long term memory.

Long-term memory can be separated into qualitatively different types: episodic, semantic, and procedural memory. Episodic memory is the memory of specific events, such as what you ate for breakfast, or the events of your last birthday. These are personal memories with contextual details and accompanying emotions. Procedural memories are non-declarative, they include processes such as how to walk, talk, or ride a bike. they are automatic and formed through practice. Semantic memories are facts and information that tend to be common knowledge or available to everyone, for example, London buses are red, or there are 12 months in a year. This also includes more abstract knowledge such as maths ability.Evidence supporting the distinction between these three forms of memory comes from cognitive neuroscience in the form of brain scans. Episodic memories have been demonstrated to stem from the hippocampus and other areas of the frontal lobe. Whereas episodic memories have demonstrated activity in the temporal lobe, and procedural memories are associated with the cerebellum and the fine motor skills used in procedural memory also involve the motor cortex. The high internal validity of biological evidence provides reliable and unbiased evidence to support the idea of three separate types of long-term memory. Further biological support for this argument is provided by case studies of brain-damaged patients, a famous example of this is the case of HM. HM suffered damage of the hippocampus and was initially thought to be unable to form new long-term memories, however, Corkin et al later discovered that HM was able to form new procedural memories, but not the declarative episodic or semantic memories. This provides evidence supporting the distinction between forms of memories. However, the brain damage confounds the evidence and reduces the internal validity since the damage to the brain may affect other factors, such as attention span and understanding.