Case Studies

cognitive

What are case studies?

Case studies are a research method where unique individuals or small groups are part of longitudinal studies.

Case studies in cognitive psychology

In cognitive psychology, case studies of HM who had brain surgery and suffered memory loss and Clive wearing who had amnesia are used to understand how memory works.

The case study of HM

HM had surgery on his hippocampus to treat his seizures and then suffered anterograde amnesia and could not form new long term memories e.g. his new address and subsequently retrograde amnesia where he couldn’t recall old memories e.g. his uncle’s passing 3 years prior. However, he could still sign his name. This suggests the hippocampus is involved in the explicit, procedural memory.

A strength of case studies

(AO3)

I: They allow research into rare behaviours, giving insight into how memory works

J: Some types of brain damage e.g. HM’s who had surgery on his hippocampus causing anterograde and retrograde amnesia are unique to individuals and cannot be recreated in a lab.

E: This makes case studies especially useful for investigating brain damage as it give in depth information on how different parts of the brain are responsible for memory

A weakness of case studies

(AO3)

I: They rely on getting retrospective data on an Individual prior to the their brain damage for comparison

J: This data can be unreliable as it comes from friends and family who may be bias when reporting information

E: Therefore valid conclusions on how memory works are difficult to draw from case studies