Physiological-The Maguire Study Flashcards
What was the experimental Design?
Matched pairs
What was the Aim of the Investigation?
It was to compare the brains of normal participants with the brains of participants with Navigational Experience.
What was the independent Variable?
the navigational experience, so comparing a taxi driver to a non-taxi driver
The dependent variable was?
the size of the hippocampus
What were the participants matched on?
Gendre,age, and their handiness
What were the positions of the taxi drivers? age, experience etc
the taxi drivers were right handed,male,aged 44 and have all been licensed for more than 15 years
What position were the controlled participants in?
they were all the same,right handed and aged 44 and male, just not taxi drivers
How were the brains of the participants scanned?
They were scanned using an MRI
How were the volumes of the hippocampus’ measured?
Through a pixel count
What were the hippocampus’ measured for?
grey matter that is found where there are high connections of neurone connections
What did the results show?
that the taxi drivers had the greater volume of grey matter in the posterior of their hippocampus while the non taxi drivers had more volume in the anterior indication a redistribution of the hippocampus for them
What correlation did this show?
There was a correlation between the size of the hippocampus and the time spent as a taxi driver
What did the researchers then conclude?
That the posterior of the brain, the hippocampus is responsible for the spatial awareness
