Case Studies Flashcards
AO1 and AO3 (8 cards)
Case Study AO1
An in-depth investigation of a single person, group, event or community. Typically the data is collected from a variety of sources, and uses several different methods. In cognitive psychology this could be: investigating a brain damaged patient, assessing effects of brain damage on memory. A real-life example of this was HM.
use multiple methods (triangulation) such as interviews, questionnaires, observations, psychological tests, medical records, and brain scans to gather comprehensive data. In cognitive psychology this may also include memory tests, and cognitive functioning.
In the participants natural setting: this may include their home environment, monitoring everyday behaviour
Longitudinal design: in cognitive psychology, this would be monitoring how memory improves over time, or how memory decline . HM was monitored for 50 years.
what is a case study example
HM
HM aim
Investigate the structure of memory as revealed in HM behaviour and the function of brain structures like the hippocampus.
HM sample
Adult Male, HM. Aged 27 at the beginning of the study. He suffered from both retrograde amnesia (loss of memories before the brain operation) and anterograde amnesia (loss of memories after the brain operation.) He was considered to have “clean” amnesia as he had no other mental problems.
HM Procedure
Early tests were simple recall tasks: asking him questions from his childhood, adulthood and before the operation. She also tested his stm and ltm recall. Finally she tested his IQ, General Knowledge, and perception.
HM was asked to trace the correct route from a maze with his finger. He was presented with this task numerous times, to see whether he could remember the route, even if he didn’t remember doing the task before.
HM was also had to trace between the lines of a star template from only looking in the reflection of a mirror. He was asked to re- attempt this task multiple times to see whether he grew more skilled at the procedure.
The looked at the effects of punishment and reinforcement: whether giving him mild electric shocks would increase the likelihood of him remembering the correct answers.
HM results
HM forgot all new experiences within 30 seconds. However he remembered information from before his 16th birthday.
His personality was consistent, good language skills, and an above average IQ.
HM had clear knowledge of past events (Wall Street crash, and WW2) Yet he could not remember where he lived, who cared for him, or what his last meal was.
He remembered how to play tennis, but could not remember being taught to play tennis.
Over 252 attempts HM did not improve on the maze task. However he showed improvements on the star task, making fewer mistakes on each attempt.
HM conclusions
Concluded that the hippocampus had a role in transforming STM into LTM, as this was something HM could not do- he forgot event after 30 seconds
HM did not improve at the maze task, when he figured out the correct route for the maze he immediately forgot it. (couldn’t convert STM in LTM) However, HM improved on the star task despite not remembering doing it before.
This suggests that HM remembered skills even if he forgot events. Tucking explain this as HM having an impaired episodic memory (recall of events, but intact procedural memory (skills) and semantic memory ( facts and concepts)
Evaluating HM
(+) The case study of HM provided valuable insights into the role of the hippocampus in memory formation. (add AO1) This finding was crucial for understanding memory processes and supported the distinction between different types of memory (e.g., procedural vs. declarative memory). However, because HM was a unique case, the findings may not be generalizable to the wider population, limiting their external validity.
(+) The case study of HM provided in-depth, detailed data on memory loss and brain function.Researchers used multiple methods, including interviews, MRI scans, and memory tests, to study his condition over many years.his allowed for a comprehensive understanding of memory processes, making the findings highly valid and reliable.
(+) Tulving’s ideas are credible because they are supported by lab experiments like Baddeley (1966b). Baddeley showed that LTM is confused by word lists with similar meanings. LTM must be encoded semantically because similar sounding word lists had no such effect.
(-) Reductionist, case studies like KF & HM show STM to be more nuanced and complex
(-)The findings from HM’s case may not be applicable to everyone.HM had a unique medical history (epilepsy and surgery), meaning his brain damage was not representative of the general population.is limits the external validity of the study, as his memory impairments may not apply to others with different types of brain damage.
