Thobois et al (2004)

Question 1

aim

Answer 1

Determining the role of the damage caudate nucleus in the of the compulsive symptoms of OCD

Question 2

sample

Answer 2

24 year old man, who damaged his caudate nucleus and developed OCD

Question 3

procedure

Answer 3

The researchers used psychometric tests, in order to determine cognitive abilities, such as verbal fluency and memory

Measured his IQ using the WAIS-III

Completed the Beck Depression Scale and the Yale-Brown Obsessive- Compulsive scale (YBOC)

Question 4

results

Answer 4

Normal verbal fluency however poor verbal comprehension on WAIS-III

Depression score was normal 3/30

YBOC na 12/20 and showed that he spent between 30 mins-2 hrs a day on compulsive behaviours (that he believes are out of his control)

Obsession was 0/20

Has OCD

Question 5

conclusion

Answer 5

Compulsive behaviors can be said to be triggered by caudate nucleus damage because he didnt suffer from symptoms before

Question 6

strengths

Answer 6

Bleeding in the caudate nucleus is rare and provided researchers with a unique opportunity to explore the role of caudate nucleus

The case also differentiated between obsessive and compulsive behavior because the patient has pure OCD
The researchers used YBOC scale which has been shown to have strong concurrent validity and high inter-rated reliability

Cross-case analysis suggests that the findings are reliable

Question 7

weaknesses

Answer 7

Study of secondary OCD- ocd was required after physical trauma (stroke) and therefore the findings may not be appyed to primary ocd thinking

Lacks generalizability bc it focuses on one person

No clue whether there were any other lesions on the brain due to the stroke