Schmolck Flashcards
What is the aim of Schmolck?
To investigate the effects of specific brain damage on semantic memory using case
studies
What is the sample of Schmolck?
6 patients with amnesia
8 normal control participants
Matched on age, sex and education
What is the procedure of Schmolck?
A lab experiment over 5 sittings
13 tests (9 were from a semantic test battery using line drawings of
24 animals and 24 objects which could be grouped into smaller categories e.g., water
animals, vehicles etc.)
Completed other tasks such as naming, describing
physical features, the pyramid and palms task and filling in gaps
% of correct or incorrect were scored but tasks 6, 8, 9 was scored 0-4 based on accuracy
Researchers made sure they compared (inter-rater
reliability)
What are the results of Schmolck?
Those with Hippocampus damage had considerable accuracy similar to the control group
Those with MTL+ performed less well: difficulty thinking of examples from a category e.g. names of breeds of dog
HM did the worst
MTL+ found it most difficult to identify and recall facts about living objects compared to non-living objects in all tasks
What is the conclusion of Schmolck?
Anterolateral temporal cortex is responsible for semantic knowledge
MTL+ had more difficulty than MTL
Why is it a strength that Schmolck is lab based?
High levels of standardisation (e.g. pictures that were used, exact timing of the procedures etc.) so the study can be easily repeated to check the results about semantic memory location for reliability
What is an issue with Schmolck’s sample?
Small sample of several unique individuals (6 people with brain damage) so results about Semantic memory location cannot be applied to others because of their unique status
What is a strength of Schmolck using a matched pairs design?
Controls participant variables so results about semantic memory and brain
damage more valid because we know the results aren’t due to those extraneous
variables
What is a weakness of Schmolck using a lab experiment?
Different from everyday life so lacks mundane realism,
meaning the results about semantic memory can’t be applied to real life
Why is it a strength that Schmolck used multiple researchers?
High in inter-rater reliability when scoring the descriptions which makes this part of the experiment more reliable
What is an ethical issue with Schmolck using vulnerable people?
There are problems with informed consent as they have brain damage so may not fully comprehend the study or their role etc
