Maguire's study

Question 1

What was the sample of Maguire’s study?

Answer 1

16 right-handed male London taxi drivers aged 32-62 years who had been taxi drivers for at least 1 and a half years
control group - 50 scans of right-handed males aged 32-62

Question 2

what was the aim of Maguire’s study?

Answer 2

To investigate the differences in the hippocampus of London taxi drivers compared to controls
To investigate whether the structure of the brain could be altered as a consequence of the demands they make on it

Question 3

What was the background of Maguire’s study?

Answer 3

The hippocampus is a region of the brain involved in spatial memory.
In some species of animals hippocampal volumes enlarge during seasons when demand for spatial ability is greatest - such as migrating birds and squirrels - suggests hippocampus has plasticity

Question 4

What were the findings from the quasi-experimental part of Maguire’s study?

Answer 4

Only region where significant difference was found was in volume of grey matter of the hippocampus
Significantly more grey matter in the posterior parts of the right hippocampus
Significantly less grey matter in the anterior left parts of their hippocampus

Question 5

What were the two ways the MRI scans were analysed in Maguire’s study?

Answer 5

Pixel counting: 2D measurement of area - old method of analysis - involved pixels being counted up manually
Voxel-Based Morphometry: 3D measurement of volume - done by computer

Question 6

What was the procedure of the correlational part of Maguire’s study?

Answer 6

MRI scans subjected again to further analysis to see whether there was a correlation between length of time as a taxi driver and volume of grey matter in the hippocampus

Question 7

What were the findings of the correlational part of Maguire’s study?

Answer 7

there was a positive correlation between length of time as a taxi driver and volume of grey matter in the posterior part of the right hippocampus
there was a negative correlation between length of time as a taxi driver and volume of grey matter in the anterior part of the hippocampus

Question 8

What were the conclusions of Maguire’s study?

Answer 8

The quasi experimental part of the study confirmed that the human brain has plasticity
The correlational part of the study suggests that changes in the hippocampus can occur in line with the demands placed on taxi drivers by their job

Question 9

How does an MRI work?

Answer 9

patients lie in a round tunnel, surrounded by a large magnet which generates powerful magnetic field. Part of the body is magnetise and exposed to radio pulses which cause the tissues to give off radio signals that can be measured, allowing a picture to be built up for a part of the body

Question 10

What are two similarities of Maguire and Blakemore & Cooper’s studies?

Answer 10

Controlled lab experiments
Both look at the impact of nurture on brain structure

Question 11

What are two differences of Maguire and Blakemore & Cooper’s studies?

Answer 11

Sample differences - size and species
type of data used (B&C qualitative and quantitative, M just quantitative

Question 12

How has Maguire changed our understanding of brain plasticity?

Answer 12

Investigated an alternative part of the brain - hippocampus vs visual neurons
Shows it can occur in humans as well as cats

Question 13

How hasn’t Maguire changed our understanding of brain plasticity?

Answer 13

Limited sample - hasn’t told us about brain plasticity in women or non-taxi drivers

Question 14

How has Maguire changed our understanding of individual diversity?

Answer 14

breaks the sample down to males, right-handed and length of taxi driving - looks at influence of those individual factors on the brain

Question 15

How has Maguire changed our understanding of social diversity?

Answer 15

looks at the influence of specific jobs
Brings in gender as a possible influential characteristic

Question 16

How does Maguire’s study relate to the nature-nurture debate?

Answer 16

Nurture - saying an individual can change their brain structure through the environment/their occupation
Nature (significantly less significant) - shows the hippocampus contributes to our spatial memory and navigation

Question 17

How does Maguire’s study relate to the free-will-determinism debate?

Answer 17

Determinism - your environment (spatial demands) change brain structure
Free-will - You can choose your occupation or environmental stimulus

Question 18

How does Maguire’s study relate to the individual-situational debate?

Answer 18

situational - environment or situation (spatial demands) change the brain structure - if you weren’t a taxi driver, your brain structure would be different

Question 19

How does Maguire’s study relate to the social sensitivity debate?

Answer 19

taxi-drivers have less volume in left anterior hippocampus - not as good at making new spatial memories
limited environment could limit brain structure - poorer people smaller brain volume (bit of a stretch)
But outweighed by the potential implications of this study

Question 20

How does Maguire’s study relate to the Usefulness debate?

Answer 20

has applications in terms of rehabilitation - brain injuries - expands our understanding in how the brain works.

Question 21

How does Maguire’s study relate to the psychology as a science debate?

Answer 21

controlled experiment - gender/age/right-handedness
replicable/objective - data gathered through MRI

Question 22

How does Maguire’s study relate to the reductionism-holism debate?

Answer 22

reductionist - only looking at one specific area of the brain

Question 23

How does Maguire’s study relate to ethnocentrism?

Answer 23

Only London - the knowledge is a very culturally specific - something unique to London Taxi drivers
But biological - could be species specific

Question 24

How does Maguire’s study relate to the biological area?

Answer 24

Looks at brain plasticity - neuro-plasiticity of the brain -
MRI is a biological scanner that is gathering biological data on the grey matter volume in the hippocampus

Question 25

How does Maguire’s study relate to validity?

Answer 25

concurrent validity
control of extraneous variables
no ecological validity but as its a brain scan this doesn’t really have an effect

Question 26

Why were London taxi drivers chosen in Maguire’s study?

Answer 26

Because they have to complete the knowledge - a test where they’re required to know every road within a six-mile radius of charing cross

Question 27

What was the sampling method of Maguire’s study?

Answer 27

Self-selecting - they spoke to taxi companies and asked them to put out an announcement requesting any interested drivers

Question 28

Why were there no females or left-handed people in this study?

Answer 28

They had known differences in size of brain structures - potential extraneous variables

Question 29

What variables were the control and experimental groups matched on in Maguire’s study?

Answer 29

Age, Gender, health and right-handedness

Question 30

What were the taxi drivers not as good at and how could this be explained?

Answer 30

spatial tasks such as replacing removed objects - learning new spatial information
Their brains were too full with the knowledge so had lost the ability to take in new information