Research Methods: Case Studies Flashcards
What is meant by the term case study?
A detailed investigation using a range of methods to study an individual or small group
What three case studies did we learn in Cognitive Psychology? (Except KC)
HM
KF
Clive Wearing
What happened to HM?
His hippocampus was removed in an attempt to reduce the number of seizures he had due to his epilepsy.
However, this severely impaired his Long term memory, whilst his Short-term memory was largely unaffected.
What did the HM case study help psychologists to understand?
Helped to demonstrate that both Long term memory and short term memory is stored separately
The importance of rehearsing information in order to process and transfer it into long-term memory.
It also showed that long-term memory was linked to the Hippocampus.
What happened to KF?
KF had a motorcycle accident which damaged his short-term memory, however his impairment was for verbal information, whilst visual information was unaffected.
What did the KF case study help psychologists to understand?
Showed that Short-term memory had to separate stores for visual and verbal information.
What happened to Clive Wearing?
Suffered from a type of dementia (Encephalitus) which impaired his short-term memory. However, his long-term memory was still functional as he was still able to remember his wife and know how to play the piano.
What did the Clive Wearing case study help psychologists to understand?
Showed that short-term memory and long-term memory was separate.
Helped understand that here was different types of long-term memory- as he could remember past learn skills and familiar faces from which he had known a long time.
What are the strengths for using Case studies?
Validity (accurate) - multiple methods have been used for investigation ( interviews, experiments)
The triangulation method ( comparing findings between methods)
Application- because these events have already happened, they are useful to provide information about how memory is processed and stored whilst maintaining the ethical guidelines.
Ethical- the events have already occurred, so no further harm is occurring.
What are the weakness about using case studies?
Generalisability - the brain damaged case studies are unique t the individual, therefore they may process memory different to other.
Additionally, the brain damaged inflicted could have also affected other areas of the brain, which the brain may have adapted to, changing the way in which memory works.
Reliability- limited because the case studies are unable to be replicated due to ethics, psychologists are only able to compare their findings against non-brain damaged patients.
Validity- the extent of the brain damaged caused is unique to the individual, other extraneous factors could have also impacted how memory works.
Ethics- the capacity of the individual in order to make the decision to consent which may not be fully understood- fully informed consent.
Therefore, vulnerable individuals such as those who suffer from dementia, may not truly understand or forget why they are consenting and become frustrated and distress causing harm t the individual.
Explain one strength and one weakness of using case studies (4 marks)
One strength of using case studies is that they are useful. This is because the event has already occurred, therefore they are able to be used to provide information about how memory is stored and processed, whilst also maintaining the ethical guidelines.
However, a weakness of using case studies is that they are not generalisable, this is because the cases are unique to the individual, so how they process memory may be different to how other people do. The brain damaged caused may also have affected other areas of the brain which the brain could have adapted to and altered the way in which memory is transferred.
