2.2.13 Case studies

Question 1

HM had his hippocampus removed. what does the hippocampus do?

Answer 1

coverts memories from STM to LTM

Question 2

examples of things HM could do

Answer 2

-star task
-remember childhood
-high IQ
-tolerate electric shocks
-same personality

Question 3

examples of things Hm could not do

Answer 3

-remember things from over 30 secs ago
-improve on maze task
-explain where he lived and who cared for him
-form long term memories

Question 4

conclusions of study of HM

Answer 4

-shows importance of hippocampus which was removed during operation (Hm can no longer form LTM)
-procedural memory is processed differently

Question 5

what are case studies

Answer 5

detailed study of a unique individual or small group, usually a longitudinal study in the individuals normal environment

Question 6

evaluate use of case studies (strengths)

Answer 6

-ethical, affect a smaller sample but benefit a large population, also involve minimal interference as ppt usually already possesses specific variable

Question 7

evaluate use of case studies (weaknesses)

Answer 7

-low validity due to qualitative data, subjective and unscientific, based on observations, experimenter may bot be thorough and there may be experimenter bias
-lack of comparison to how case study was previously, no way to compare progress or impact of IV