Schmolck et al. (2002)

Description

Edexcel A Level Psychology: Cognitive contemporary study
Molly Burns
Mind Map by Molly Burns, updated more than 1 year ago
Molly Burns
Created by Molly Burns almost 6 years ago
426
0

Resource summary

Schmolck et al. (2002)
  1. ABOUT
    1. AIM
      1. To find out if Semantic LTM is linked to a particular part of the brain
      2. IV
        1. The extent of brain injury
        2. DV
          1. Scores on 9 separate tests of semantic LTM
          2. SAMPLE
            1. 6 patients with severe damage to the MTL and 8 Controls with no brain damage
              1. 3 of the patients also had damage to the temporal cortex generally (MTL+)
            2. METHODS
              1. A natural experiment with matched pairs design.
                1. The type of cognitive test is a repeated measures design because each participant did every test.
              2. PROCEDURE
                1. Schmolck created 9 tests for Semantic LTM functions. All were based on a set of 48 drawings
                  1. Half of animals and half of objects
                    1. These pictures were grouped in sixes: 6 land animals, 6 birds, 6 musical instruments, 6 vehicles, etc.
                  2. EXAMPLES OF THE 9 TESTS
                    1. Category sorting: the participants were given all 48 pictures and asked to sort them into “living” or “man made”
                      1. Category fluency: the participants were asked to give as many examples as possible from each theme within a minute
                      2. The participants were tape recorded and their responses transcribed (typed up).
                        1. 14 'raters' checked each transcript for reliability
                          1. They ooked for grammar/syntax errors in the way the participants spoke because problems with language also indicates trouble with semantic memory.
                        2. RESULTS
                          1. MTL+ Group: These patients did significantly worse in all the tests
                            1. There was a positive correlation between the amount of brain damage and the number of mistakes.
                              1. H.M. did better than the MTL+ patients but slightly worse than the other MTL patients who had damage solely to the hippocampus
                              2. CONCLUSION
                                1. A clear link between damage to the temporal cortex generally and the loss of semantic LTM.
                                  1. Patients with damage specific to the hippocampus suffered loss of episodic memory, but not semantic memory.
                                    1. This suggests that semantic and episodic LTM are encoded in different parts of the brain,
                                    2. EVALUATION
                                      1. GENERALISABILITY
                                        1. Only a small sample was used which means results can easily be distorted by anomalies
                                        2. RELIABILITY
                                          1. It has standardised procedures that could be replicated by other researchers.
                                            1. 14 raters to check the participants’ scores and their agreement gives this study inter-rater reliability.
                                            2. APPLICATION
                                              1. Helps us understand the side-effects of brain damage on memory
                                              2. VALIDITY
                                                1. Lacks ecological validity as tasks are artificial
                                                2. ETHICS
                                                  1. This study involved patients who could not give valid consent, because they would not be able to remember having the study explained to them.
                                                Show full summary Hide full summary

                                                Similar

                                                Psychology | Unit 4 | Addiction - Explanations
                                                showmestarlight
                                                Memory: AS Psychology
                                                rae_olamide_xo
                                                Cognitive Psychology - Capacity and encoding
                                                T W
                                                Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
                                                Anja Starc
                                                Age as a factor affecting eye witness testimony
                                                T W
                                                Cognitive approach mind map
                                                kikileah97
                                                Multi Store Model and Memory
                                                s42099
                                                Models of Addictive Behaviour - Gambling
                                                Sandie Garland
                                                Approaches in Psychology - A level
                                                Ellie Porter
                                                Cognitive Psychology Core Studies
                                                Amy Darvill
                                                DD303 Language Processing
                                                Ken Adams