Draganski et al's study

Question 1

What is the aim?

Answer 1

To see if brain structure would change when learning a simple juggling routine

Question 2

What experimental method was it?

Answer 2

Lab experiment

Question 3

Who were the participants?

Answer 3

Volunteers who had no prior experience with juggling

Question 4

What was the experimental design?

Answer 4

mixed design (independent measures and repeated measures design)

Question 5

What was the IV?

Answer 5

Jugglers and non-jugglers

Question 6

What was the DV?

Answer 6

Changes in brain structure

Question 7

What was the procedure?

Answer 7

2 groups of participants. One group that were asked to juggle for 3 months and then stop juggling for 3 months. The other group were told not to practice juggling at all. At the start of the experiment, an MRI scan was taken for every participant. Then after 3 months (where one group was practicing and the other was not) another MRI scan was taken. Then again after another 3 months where none of the participants were juggling

Question 8

What were the results?

Answer 8

At the start of the experiment, there were no differences in the MRI scans between all participants. After 3 months when the scan was taken again, the group that had been juggling had an increased amount of grey matter in their mid-temporal area in both hemispheres of the cortex which is responsible for coordination and movement, in comparison to the other group. After 6 months where none of the participants were juggling, the juggling group still had more grey matter than the other group, but it was less than when they were practicing.

Question 9

What was the conclusion?

Answer 9

The results show that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between learning and brain structure