Long-term memory is like a huge file cabinet or filing system with unlimited capacity. Finding and pulling out the information stored in long-term memory is the last step in the process of memory or remembering. You are retrieving or recalling information from your long-term memory when you remember a phone number you were given last week or the name of your pet dog when you were 10 years old. Not all information stored in long-term memory is the same. It varies with respect to personal significance, specificity and the number of prior opportunities for learning.
Episodic memory includes episodes that happen in a person's life, similar to a daily diary.
Semantic memory includes organized, general and highly learned information, similar to a mental encyclo-pedia or dictionary. It is widely assumed that age differences in memory are confined to measures of episodic memory, and that measures of semantic memory are mostly unaffected by age. Conclusions from Age-Memory Research Lower memory performance scores of some older adults in these studies may be due to many factors not necessarily associated with normal age changes. For example, older subjects may perform more poorly than younger subjects because of cautiousness, fatigue, poor health, fear of failure, and lack of motivation. To a certain extent, age-related memory problems may be associated with sensory loss.