Sperry

Question 1

What is epilepsy?

Answer 1

A condition brought on by abnormal electrical impulses discharging within the brain disrupting normal brain patterns

Question 2

What is the surgery used to treat epilepsy?

Answer 2

Commissurotomy or Split brain surgery

Question 3

How does a commissurotomy treat epilepsy?

Answer 3

The corpus callosum is cut so the abnormal electrical impulses could not spread throughout the brain

Question 4

Why did Sperry choose to investigate people who had a commissurotomy?

Answer 4

He thought they were perfected for research into what each hemisphere of the brain actually dows

Question 5

What is lateralisation of function?

Answer 5

One side of the brain has different role from the other

Question 6

What is the corpus callosum?

Answer 6

Fibres that carry the majority of information between the two hemispheres of the brain

Question 7

What is contralateral control?

Answer 7

The idea that each side of your body is controlled by the other side of your brain

Question 8

What is a commissurotomy?

Answer 8

A surgical operation to sever the corpus callosum

Question 9

What was Sperry’s aim?

Answer 9

To study the functions of separated and independent hemispheres

Question 10

What was Sperry’s sample?

Answer 10

11 patients who had undergone a commissurotomy as a treatment for their epilepsy

They were compared with a group of people who had not undergone the surgery

Question 11

How did Sperry collect his sample?

Answer 11

A surgery in America

Question 12

What was a strength of the sample?

Answer 12

They were able to test the hemispheres independently as they were separated in the surgery

Question 13

What were weaknesses of the sample?

Answer 13

Small sample size

2 people had the surgery 4-5 years ago so may have recovered

Perhaps the cause of results was epilepsy

Question 14

What were the controls?

Answer 14

The symbols displayed

The images displayed

The objects used

The fixation point

1/10 second time for presentation

Hands being out of view

One eye being covered

Using a tachistoscope

Question 15

What was the conclusion about the left hemisphere?

Answer 15

Has language ability (both written and verbal) and controls the right hand side of your body

Question 16

What was the conclusion about the right hemisphere?

Answer 16

Can only communicate non-verbally and controls the left hand side of your body

Question 17

Does this study have good informed consent?

Answer 17

Participants consented to participate following being approached through their hospital

Question 18

Did the study have good confidentiality?

Answer 18

Details of each participant were kept confidential

Question 19

Did the study protect participants from harm?

Answer 19

It may have been upsetting or embarrassing to not have full capabilities or understanding of your behaviour

Question 20

Were participants deceived?

Answer 20

Participants were fully aware on the research

Question 21

Was the study ethnocentric?

Answer 21

The sample was obtained from a hospital in America but the roles of each brain hemisphere should be universal so perhaps it doesn’t matter

Question 22

How was the internal reliability of this study?

Answer 22

The procedure was very standardised and easy to replicate due to the amount of controls

Eg images were all shown for 1/10th of a second

Question 23

How was the population validity of the study?

Answer 23

The sample was very specific (epileptic people who had split brain surgery) so it is not generalisable but it may not matter based on our natural biology