Research Methods - Cognitive Psychology

Question 1

What time frame was Phineas Gage studied?

Answer 1

1823-1860

Question 2

Who was Phineas Gage?

Answer 2

A railroad construction worker in new Hampshire

Question 3

What happened to Phineas?

Answer 3

Sustained damage to his frontal lobe in an accident where a metal pole went through his skull and damaged his brain

Question 4

How did Phineas’ behaviour change?

Answer 4

more unrestrained behaviour with less organisation

Question 5

How conclusions were made from Phineas’ brain?

Answer 5

Concluded that the frontal lobe was responsible fro problem solving and restraining emotions i.e aggression

Question 6

What made it harder to draw conclusions about Phineas’ behaviour?

Answer 6

No baseline measure - data obtained was solely based on people’s opinions of how they knew him

Question 7

What made scientists think his behaviour was not significantly affected?

Answer 7

Managed to get a second job

Question 8

Why did his case gain interest?

Answer 8

How considerable brain damage can be overcome

Functioning of the brain

Question 9

What time frame was Henry Molaison studied?

Answer 9

1926-2008

Question 10

What did Henry teach scientists about?

Answer 10

Brain functioning, especially the idea of memory

Question 11

How did Henry come about as an participant?

Answer 11

Had surgery at 26 in 1953 to try and help epilepsy (removing bilateral medial lobe) but experienced amnesia - no LTM but still had procedural skills and retain previous memories

Question 12

What was wrong with Henry’s memory?

Answer 12

Could use working memory, but couldn’t move them into LTM

Question 13

Define study

Answer 13

any situation where a research gathers data about people.

Question 14

Define Case Study

Answer 14

a specific type of study, where multiple sources of data are gathered about a unique person, group or situation

Question 15

Define Qualitative data

Answer 15

data in non-numerical form, such as descriptions of behaviour or interview responses.

Question 16

Define Quantitative data

Answer 16

data in the form of numbers, such as test scores.

Question 17

Define single participant data

Answer 17

a study in which only one PP is used, rather than a group. The pp is usually tested on multiple occasions in order to compile a set of data about their performance. Milner et al. (1968) did single-participant experiments with HM, for example, teaching him to copy drawings in a mirror and timing him.

Question 18

Define triangulation

Answer 18

the process of comparing different sources of data to see if they agree with each other. This helps check for validity.

Question 19

Define amnesia

Answer 19

loss of memory

Question 20

Define anterograde amnesia

Answer 20

the inability to store new long-term memories.

Question 21

Define retrograde amnesia

Answer 21

the inability to recall information that was previously stored in LTM.

Question 22

Define Experiment

Answer 22

a research design in which an IV is systematically manipulated while a DV is measured and all other variables are controlled. It identifies causal relationships between variables.

Question 23

Define Quasi-Experiment

Answer 23

a study that looks like an experiment (because two conditions are compared) but the IV is not manipulated by the researcher (usually because the conditions being compared already exist). A quasi-experiment is a sort of correlational design (Raine et al. 1997 is an example) so it cannot be used to identify causal relationships.

Question 24

Define Variable

Answer 24

anything that can vary (usually something that can be quantified).

Question 25

Define Independent Variable

Answer 25

the variable systematically manipulated by the researcher

Question 26

Define Dependent Variable

Answer 26

the variable measured by the researcher.

Question 27

Define Condition

Answer 27

a distinct state of affairs where the IV is kept at the same level for all pps. For example, in Glanzer & Cunitz (1966) one condition had a displacement task before recall and the other condition did not.

Question 28

Define Control Variable

Answer 28

any variable that is deliberately kept the same across all the conditions.

Question 29

Define Extraneous Variable

Answer 29

any variable that is not the IV but which might affect the DV.

Question 30

Define Confounding Variable

Answer 30

an extraneous variable that affects conditions in a systematic way.

Question 31

How did Henry live his live subsequently?

Answer 31

Lived in the present, using his WM but lacking transference access to his LTM in order to transform them into semantic memories

Question 32

What was the general consensus due to Henry’s condition?

Answer 32

Thought the Medial Temporal Lobe removal caused the deficit but were unaware of how his memory functioned previously and hence could not be sure

Question 33

What did Schmolck et al (2002) think about Henry’s condition?

Answer 33

Thought his memory problems had links to his MTL but also thought there was some lateral cortex damage - tried to do something to confirm this assumption

Question 34

What is the MTL?

Answer 34

The Medial Temporal Lobe, containing the hippocampus , responsible for moving information from the STM to the LTM

Question 35

What was Schmolck’s participants like?

Answer 35

Six patients (2x with hippocampal functioning damage (HF), 3x with MTL and lateral temporal lobe damage)

Question 36

What procedures did Schmolck use on his participants?

Answer 36

neuroimaging (MRI, CT and fMRI) to measure the extent of damage in each patient and tests of semantic knowledge in order to check their cognitive functioning

Question 37

What did Schmolck find out?

Answer 37

HM had difficulty with semantic knowledge, more so than controls and the HF patients but did better than MTL patients- he also had difficulty with sentence structure and grammar

Question 38

What conclusions did Schmolck draw from his findings?

Answer 38

Figured HM may have issues unrelated to damage caused by the surgery, but due to his epilepsy during his younger years.

Question 39

How did the brain injury case studies use quantitative data?

Answer 39

measurements of damaged areas of the brain and numbers of correct answers according to semantic testing

Question 40

Why do brain injury cases gather qualitative data

Answer 40

rich, in-depth and detailed data from individuals such as with HM who was studied for over 55 years by a maximum of 100 people, where plenty of qualitative data will have been gathered.

Question 41

What are the strengths of the case study method, using patients with brain damage? (3)

Answer 41

• More than one patient found with similar damages that back each other up - stronger validity
• Measurements of the damage measured using neuro-imaging scanning - interrater reliability and careful controls in pace
• Scientific methods (semantic knowledge and functioning tests)used using reductionist approach and studying variables in controlled manner

Question 42

What are the weaknesses of the case study method, using patients with brain damage? (3)

Answer 42

• May be other issues that causes difficulties with information processing ie. a virus or surgery that doesn’t focus on a singular structure
• Brain-damaged individuals are unique, and therefore comparisons may not be fair for them.
• Neuroimaging may not be sensitive enough to pick up smaller sites of damage, never mind studying them