Research Methods - Cognitive Psychology Flashcards
What time frame was Phineas Gage studied?
1823-1860
Who was Phineas Gage?
A railroad construction worker in new Hampshire
What happened to Phineas?
Sustained damage to his frontal lobe in an accident where a metal pole went through his skull and damaged his brain
How did Phineas’ behaviour change?
more unrestrained behaviour with less organisation
How conclusions were made from Phineas’ brain?
Concluded that the frontal lobe was responsible fro problem solving and restraining emotions i.e aggression
What made it harder to draw conclusions about Phineas’ behaviour?
No baseline measure - data obtained was solely based on people’s opinions of how they knew him
What made scientists think his behaviour was not significantly affected?
Managed to get a second job
Why did his case gain interest?
How considerable brain damage can be overcome
Functioning of the brain
What time frame was Henry Molaison studied?
1926-2008
What did Henry teach scientists about?
Brain functioning, especially the idea of memory
How did Henry come about as an participant?
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
What was wrong with Henry’s memory?
Could use working memory, but couldn’t move them into LTM
Define study
any situation where a research gathers data about people.
Define Case Study
a specific type of study, where multiple sources of data are gathered about a unique person, group or situation
Define Qualitative data
data in non-numerical form, such as descriptions of behaviour or interview responses.
Define Quantitative data
data in the form of numbers, such as test scores.
Define single participant data
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.
Define triangulation
the process of comparing different sources of data to see if they agree with each other. This helps check for validity.
Define amnesia
loss of memory
Define anterograde amnesia
the inability to store new long-term memories.
Define retrograde amnesia
the inability to recall information that was previously stored in LTM.
Define Experiment
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.
Define Quasi-Experiment
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.
Define Variable
anything that can vary (usually something that can be quantified).
Define Independent Variable
the variable systematically manipulated by the researcher
Define Dependent Variable
the variable measured by the researcher.
Define Condition
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.
Define Control Variable
any variable that is deliberately kept the same across all the conditions.
Define Extraneous Variable
any variable that is not the IV but which might affect the DV.
Define Confounding Variable
an extraneous variable that affects conditions in a systematic way.
How did Henry live his live subsequently?
Lived in the present, using his WM but lacking transference access to his LTM in order to transform them into semantic memories
What was the general consensus due to Henry’s condition?
Thought the Medial Temporal Lobe removal caused the deficit but were unaware of how his memory functioned previously and hence could not be sure
What did Schmolck et al (2002) think about Henry’s condition?
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
What is the MTL?
The Medial Temporal Lobe, containing the hippocampus , responsible for moving information from the STM to the LTM
What was Schmolck’s participants like?
Six patients (2x with hippocampal functioning damage (HF), 3x with MTL and lateral temporal lobe damage)
What procedures did Schmolck use on his participants?
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
What did Schmolck find out?
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
What conclusions did Schmolck draw from his findings?
Figured HM may have issues unrelated to damage caused by the surgery, but due to his epilepsy during his younger years.
How did the brain injury case studies use quantitative data?
measurements of damaged areas of the brain and numbers of correct answers according to semantic testing
Why do brain injury cases gather qualitative data
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.
What are the strengths of the case study method, using patients with brain damage? (3)
- 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
What are the weaknesses of the case study method, using patients with brain damage? (3)
- 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
