Penifield's study on the interpretive cortex

Question 1

what is the aim

Answer 1

To investigate patients’ responses when their brain was electrically stimulated.

Question 2

what is the method

Answer 2

Penfield operated on people to treat their severe epilepsy.
His technique meant that a conscious patient’s brain was exposed and areas could be electrically stimulated.
Patients could then report their thoughts and sensations.

Question 3

what are the results

Answer 3

With temporal lobe stimulation, patients recalled experiences or recalled feelings associated with the experiences, including experiences of déjà vu.
The same memory was recalled each time the same area was stimulated.

Question 4

what is the conclusion

Answer 4

Suggests that memories of previous experiences are stored in the temporal lobe.
An associated area stores the personal meaning of the experience. Penfield called this the interpretive cortex.

Question 5

what is a strength of the penifield study

Answer 5

A strength is that Penfield used a very precise method of studying the brain.
He could stimulate the exact same area of the brain repeatedly and patients could report their experiences.
This enabled him to produce an accurate ‘map’ of brain function.

Question 6

what are two weaknesses of the penifield study

Answer 6

A weakness is that the participants in the study made up an unusual sample.
The patients were suffering from severe epilepsy.
This could mean that any results obtained were unusual and not reflective of people with non-epileptic brains.

A weakness is that Penfield’s later research did not always support his original findings.
In fact only 40 of the 520 patients he studied reported vivid memories when their temporal lobe was stimulated.
This suggests that the interpretive cortex does not always respond in the same way.