HM case study Flashcards
what surgery did HM get ?
brain surgery
what year and age did HM get surgery ?
age 27
1953
why did HM get brain surgery ?
to alleviate his symptoms of epilepsy
what part of the brain was removed in HMs surgery ?
the hippocampus
what was HM diagnosed with after his surgery ?
anterograde amnesia
retrograde amnesia
what is anterograde amnesia ?
when the brain can’t store new information in the short term memory
what is retrograde amnesia ?
the loss of memory for events which happened before the injury
after his surgery HMs STM was normal but whay couldn’t he transfer new memory to ?
Long term memory
HM had no knowledge of current affairs or recent family events, give an example of a recent family event that HM struggled to recall
his fathers death
what could HM remember after his surgery ?
people he knew from a long time ago
HM was soon assessed on his recall of salient personal events - what could he recall and what couldn’t he recall ?
- he could barely recall his fathers death
- he had no memory of his workplace
- he could draw a floor plan of his house
- he had no awareness of national or international events
- he could identify Kennedy when shown a dollar and recalled that he was assassinated
what did HMs neurological experiment assess ?
any changes, and coordination and motor impairment
what was discovered about HMs IQ before and after his brain surgery ?
his IQ had increased from 104 to 112!
what tasks did HM have to complete during his neurological experiment ?
- sorting tasks, e.g wisconsin card sorting tasks
- perceptual tasks e.g mooney face perception task
what was the mooney face perception task ?
involves recognizing a face from black and white pattern with incomplete contour
participants have to give the sex and approximate age of the face
how did HM perform in the mooney face perception task ?
he performed better compared to 8 normal controls of the same age
when did HM die ?
December 2008
who studies HM for 5 decades ?
Brenda Milner
before HM, where were memory functions thought to be distributed ?
in the cortex
after research with HM where was memory shown to be distinct in ?
a distinct cerebral function to the other cognitive abilities
the medial lobe is important for memory
what is a case study
In-depth study on individual or small group of people
Unique/rare
Usually collects qualitative data: methods used involve questionnaires, interviews
Triangulation of data used to compare common themes
Can collect quantitative data through expts and brain scans
Case studies - evaluation
Suitable/ethical
Over time = valid patterns of development
Triangulation/in-depth and detailed = valid (also naturally occurring = ecological valid)
Can’t infer cause and effects = low validity
Low in generalizability because unique cases
Can’t replicate- not reliable
Subjective if only one researcher - qual data- could mean different people interpret the data differently.
Case studies of brain damage can be similar, with similar findings = reliable
Scans are objective but brain injury can be complex and scans vague – low validity
Consent needed/ invasive/ right to withdraw/pseudonym
